Mass Effect: Demons
by f1r3storm
Summary: Following the destruction of the Bahak system, Commander Shepard not only has to deal with the Batarians once again, but also with her feelings for Liara T'Soni and her past.
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

_Introduction: More or less my first FanFic, so don't be too harsh. :)_

_The story takes place after Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival and obviously before Mass Effect 3. It's kind of a brand new side story, showing some more personal aspects of Commander Jolene „Joli" Shepard, while at the same time it's meant to pick up a few topics of the past and progress her relationship with Liara T'Soni._

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><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

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><p>„Commander?"<p>

„Shepard? … Are you awake?"

Kelly Chambers' voice was an unwelcome sound in the middle of the night, rousing Shepard from slumber. Although she actually wasn't so unhappy about it. She had one of these nightmares again, which bothered her ever since Cerberus brought her back to life.

Only herself out in the cold darkness of space, desperatly fighting for air, but ultimately drifting away through the Normandy's burning wreckage down into the atmosphere of Alchera. It was always the same, almost every night. And then, when she loses consciousness in her dream, she wakes up, slightly shivering and dripping in sweat.

Only slowly did Shepard raise her head out of the pillows on her bed and took a brief look at the clock: 04:12 am. She tried to reach the panel on her night table to answer the call, nearly pushing a glass down to the floor while fumbling around.

„Now i am," she mumbled after hitting a button on it. „What's up?"

„I'm sorry Commander, didn't want to disturb you, but we received a high priority message from Admiral Hackett a few minutes ago. I thought i should inform you right away."

„Isn't it always high priority when an Admiral calls?" said Shepard. „I'll take a look at it over here. Thank you."

It was one of these moments when Shepard wished she had another terminal besides her bed, so she wouldn't have to get up. She dropped her head down into the pillows again for a few seconds, before she reluctantly crawled herself out of the warm bed and went over to desk. „At least i don't have to slip in some more appropriate clothes," she thought when she sat down on the chair in just her tank top and panties. She was still sleepy, rubbed her eyes and finally managed to find the correct button on her terminal to start the playback.

„Commander, sorry for interrupting you in the middle of the night, but there have been some new developments and there's no time for procrastination," started the message. „I was just informed that there has been another Batarian attack on Terra Nova."

„Great, Batarians again," Shepard thought, remembering her other encounters with them for a moment. Elysium and the Skyllian Blitz came to her mind. Back then, she became a war hero. Or at least that's what people said. She never cared so much about it, always considered it as just having done her job. Something that every good soldier would have done. They even built a memorial for her after she was thought to be dead. At a place that became the hottest wedding location on the planet. Shepard wasn't sure how she should feel about all this, but at least it served a good cause by funding Alliance veterans with the wedding fees.

„I know you saved the colony two years ago, so i thought it was wise to inform you. I don't have exact details yet as i'm about to have a meeting on this subject. That's also the reason for just sending this as a recorded message. Anyway, we'd really appreciate your help in this matter. Please report to Terra Nova immediately. I will contact you again with further instructions. Hackett out."

Shepard sighed while leaning back in her chair. She wasn't a friend of the Batarians, but didn't really hate them neither. Back on Omega, she even helped one of them who was infected by the virus that spreaded in the slums. But yet there were too many tensions between the Batarians and Humans for her to fully trust them. She'd never turn her back at one of them and destroying a whole Batarian system clearly wouldn't help to improve the situation.

Shepard leaned back forward and pushed the communications button. „Joker, i guess you're up early again?"

„Yes, Ma'am," he answered. „I wanted to finish some calibrations to our navigation systems before our next jump."

„Calibrations? I told you not to spend too much time with Garrus," she said, followed by laughter on the other side of the comm channel. „Well, it seems you have to wait with these. Set a new course for Terra Nova and get us there as soon as possible."

„Terra Nova?" he asked and Shepard could clearly recognize a surprised tone in his voice.

„Yes, Terra Nova. Batarians again...," Shepard replied.

„Batarians... i don't like the sound of that."

„Me neither," she said and closed the channel. „EDI?"

„Yes, Shepard?" the VI replied.

„Please wake up Miranda, Jacob and Garrus. They shall meet me at the briefing room in 15 minutes."

„Affirmative, Shepard. Shall i give them a specific reason if they ask?"

„Uh, just tell them it's urgent. They'll hear more from me in the briefing room," said Shepard and then stood up to search for her clothes that she threw into the sitting area of her cabin before she fell into bed last night. A while ago she bought herself a nice black and red coloured dress on the Citadel, which also shows a little skin around her waist. Something she could easily wear when being on the Normandy, unlike the dress she got from Kasumi, which seemed rather inappropriate for daily work. She didn't really like the other stuff the ship had to offer, mostly because many of these outfits had Cerberus logos on it. Besides that, Liara said she looked kinda sexy in this new piece of clothing. That was something she'd have never expected her to say so bluntly, but she was more than happy to hear it.

It was still pretty early in the morning and thus there wasn't much going on, when the elevator doors opened at the CIC. Some folks from the night shift and Kelly were working on their terminals, while Shepard went straight through the dimmed Lab. It was pretty quiet around, a peaceful silence. At least for the moment. Something that Shepard tried to appreciate as much as she could.

The door to the briefing room opened and Miranda, Jacob and Garrus were already waiting there. They, too, seemed sleepy, but also looked curious at her when she came closer.

„Commander? What's going on?" asked Miranda.

„I'm sorry i had to wake you up. I received a message from Admiral Hackett a few minutes ago. He told me that there has been a Batarian attack on Terra Nova, but i don't have more intel than that at the moment. He requested our assistance and i already told Joker to change our course."

„What would they possibly want on Terra Nova?" asked Jacob. „Is this a reaction to the destruction of the Bahak system?"

„I really don't know at the moment," replied Shepard. „The Admiral said he will contact me again as soon as more informations are available. But i assume we'll likely have to go down to the surface and i want both of you on my team if we do so. Good firepower and biotics won't do any harm when dealing with Batarians, trust me. Garrus, i also need you and your Sniper Rifle as backup."

„Now... please excuse me. Just wanted to inform you early on, but i need to check a few things. I'll let you know when i have more intel," said the Commander, turned around and left the room.

„How are we supposed to prepare for this mission?" asked Jacob to everybody around. He clearly wasn't happy about not having much details about the situation on the colony.

„Shepard knows what she's doing," said Garrus.

„Don't worry, we'll get more details for sure," added Miranda, then moved past Garrus and Jacob to leave the room. Before she went out, she turned over again, saying, „Just keep on standby. We're actually pretty close to Terra Nova, so it won't be long until we reach the system."

Meanwhile Shepard stepped into the elevator in the CIC again and moved down to Deck 3. She went straight through the empty mess hall and grabbed herself a cup of coffee, adding a shot of milk and some sugar afterwards. For a few seconds, she just stood there and stirred her coffee, thinking about how the Batarians wanted to crash an asteroid onto Terra Nova. Shepard was able to stop their plans, but had to let their leader escape from there in order to save civilians. She tried to track Balak down after that, but they had more important things to do. It always reminded her of the fact that she's not some kind of superhero, but rather just a human who also has to accept defeats. She drank a sip of her coffee, then headed back towards the elevator.

Upon entering her room some moments later, she took a quick look around at her pets. She was glad that Kelly offered her help to feed her fishes. In the past she sometimes forgot it or was unable to feed them because she was on a mission. And when she returned and saw them floating lifelessly in the water, it made her sad. She really learned to love them and many times she found herself standing in front of the fish tank, just looking at them, sometimes for around 15 minutes. It kind of fascinated her to watch them and while doing so she often forgot the time and everything else around her.

She stepped closer to the shelf with the hamster cage on it and observed Serenity for a few moments, while she was sleeping peacefully. Miranda had suggested that name to her a while ago and Shepard instantly loved it. „Lucky girl," she thought. Then she turned around to activate her private terminal.

„EDI, please execute communication protocol Shepard Alpha Tango Four Seven, highest encryption."

„Establishing connection," confirmed the Normandy's VI and after a few seconds Liara appeared on the display next to Shepards model ships.


	2. Chapter 2: Apart

**Chapter II**

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><p>„Jolene, i'm happy to see you," said Liara, who was one of only a few persons calling her by her full first name. Usually other people just called her Shepard, many others, including most of her friends, used the name Joli as she was nicknamed back on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz by some fellow comrades. She even utilized that name more often than her real one when introducing to someone.<p>

Liara's welcome was accompanied by a heart-warming smile on her face, which alone made Jolene already feel better. As it was always the case when she spoke with her. Liara just had that certain something which made Shepard really feel alive. And it wasn't easy for her being separated from Liara.

„Hey Liara, you're busy right now?" Shepard asked.

„No, not so much actually. Besides that, you can get in touch with me whenever you want, you know that... Let me guess... you're calling me because of Terra Nova?"

„How?" asked Shepard, before she was interrupted by Liara. „After all i'm the Shadow Broker."

„You sure are... Still having fun doing this?" asked Shepard.

„I wouldn't necessarily describe it as fun, it's just a huge opportunity... for both of us. Having said that, didn't we clarify this back when we took this base from the former Shadow Broker?"

„We did, back then... ," replied Shepard, lowering her head a bit and rubbing her forehead. She sounded almost a bit regretful in this moment and had this slightly sad look on her face.

Her words made Liara more than curious, gave her a worried feeling. She could feel and see that something wasn't alright. „What's wrong?"

„Look. I appreciate that you have access to so much informations and share them with me, but... it's just that i... i just miss you. A lot. See... we ultimately lost two whole years. And i'd rather have you by my side right now... it feels like there's so much to catch up, but again you're so many lightyears away from me. We haven't met in person for two months again."

Speaking these words was like letting off a huge amount of steam, something that pressed on her shoulders for a while now. Although she was afraid Liara might take it the wrong way.

„You know i miss you, too," answered Liara, trying to cheer her up. She knew that Shepard had a hard time, especially after what happened in the Bahak system. „Why don't you just pay me a visit? I'd be happy if it was you who takes my mind off the things i'm doing day after day."

„I'd take control of the helm myself right away if there wasn't Terra Nova... and i guess Joker wouldn't be so happy about it either," Shepard said and sighed. She sure would have loved to deepen the conversation, yet this wasn't exactly the right time. „But let's talk about this later... regarding Terra Nova... do you have any useful information? Still waiting to hear something from Hackett."

„To be honest, not very much. I heard that there are Batarians on Terra Nova, but as far as i know they're not acting on behalf of the Batarian Hegemony. Well, at least not officially. By the way, did you know there's a remote Alliance science outpost on Terra Nova?"

„No, didn't know. What are they doing there?," asked Jolene.

„My informations on this aren't 100 percent solid, it's all top secret, but i think they are experimenting with new weapon technologies there."

„Now we're coming closer," said Shepard. „I'd say that's it."

„Likely."

Before Shepard could add anything else, she was interrupted by Joker's voice.

„Commander, Admiral Hackett wants to speak with you."

„I'll answer his call in a minute," she responded, before focusing on Liara again. „Well, you heard him... Hackett requested my help in this matter."

„I did... Please be careful, will you?"

„Of course," Shepard replied, followed by a short pause. „I love you, Liara."

„Love you, too," said Liara, smiling again, before she closed the connection.

Shepard released another deep sigh and gazed into the room for a brief moment. She deeply missed the old times when Liara was with her on the Normandy, until the Collectors showed up and rocked her world. She hated them for what happened. And ultimately she made them pay for it, although that wasn't her main motivation to defeat them. But she quickly dismissed the thought and put the Admiral on screen.

„Commander, i'm sorry for not contacting you earlier, but things are pretty busy around here at the moment, as you can imagine."

„No problem Sir, we'll need some more hours to reach Terra Nova anyway."

„The good news is that those Batarians aren't attacking the cities on the planet," continued Hackett.

„I assume their target is the Alliance research outpost?" she asked.

For a moment the Admiral went silent, which affirmed her she was correct. Nevertheless, he seemed to be surprised that Shepard knew about this facility.

„This base is top secret. How did you know?"

„Let's just say i have my well informed sources," said Shepard.

„Be that as it may, but unfortunately we don't know much more than that. We have no exact details about the tactical situation as of yet, so it will be part of your job to find out. We only received the scientists' distress call when the attack began, moments later we lost contact with them. You'll meet with two other Alliance ships in the Asgard system. Analyze the current situation down there, coordinate with the other ships and try to recapture the base. We can not allow the Batarians to get away with the research data from there."

„Understood. Is there anything else?"

„Who will be on your team, Commander?" the Admiral wanted to know.

„I'm going in with Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor. Garrus will back us up."

„Cerberus operatives? We don't want Cerberus to get a glimpse at those research files either," he responded, suddenly sounding even more serious than he did before.

„Sir, with all due respect, Miranda and Jacob work for me. And i don't work for Cerberus. I never did. I used the help they offered to defeat the Collectors, the help which neither the Alliance nor the Council were willing to offer and i tolerated them while doing so," Shepard replied, growing louder for a second. She always became a tad more aggressive when talking about Cerberus. „I trust Miranda and Jacob and that means you can also trust them."

The Admiral silenced again, obviously thinking about Shepard's honest words. He'd either have to correct her or accept her opinion. Whatever he would do, she didn't regret what she just said.

„If you say so. Ultimately, you never let me down in the past. Therefore i trust your judgement, Commander. Good luck then. I'll send you all available data regarding the base. Hackett out."

Shepard spent the next couple of hours studying the base layout Hackett had sent her. The area around the outpost was pretty open with a few hills in the south that could provide cover while approaching the base, a large lake to the east and some more uneven terrain at the north. The west side served as a landing area for ships and shuttles, so it was pretty much impossible to attack from there. It was a start, but Shepard couldn't put together a detailed plan until they had a clear look at the area from above.

She was really focused on this and seemed to have forgotten the time, when Joker's voice appeared again on the comm channel. „Commander, we'll arrive at Asgard in a few minutes."

„Understood, i'm on my way," said Shepard and headed towards the elevator. Seconds later she arrived at the CIC. At least one positive thing she could say about Cerberus. Compared to the SR-1's elevator this thing was extremely fast. She moved quickly through the CIC, which was filled with much more people by this time. After all these months, she was still surprised that the whole crew decided to stay after Shepard turned herself away from working with Cerberus, following the destruction of the Collectors base. She'd expected at least some persons leaving, but was happy that no one did.

„Gonna be a long day again, right?" said Joker as Shepard entered the cockpit.

„Probably. That's the problem when you're doing a good job. Everyone wants your help."

„I'm sure they could handle it on their own, it's just that you have experience with the Batarians... and with saving the day," Joker added.

„A bit too much experience for my taste," Jolene answered.

Moments later the Normandy dropped into the Asgard system. Through the cockpit's window Shepard watched the stars returning to their usual appearance, brightly shining in the endless darkness. Always a truly beautiful view for Jolene, especially with a no less beautiful nebula far away in the background. One day she might just bring the Normandy to one of these nebulas, go to the observation room, watch the stars, the colourful, voluminous nebula clouds and meditate like Samara had shown her a while ago.

She'd already meditated a few times recently in her cabin. It helped her to alleviate the stress and to clear her mind for the time being. Something she really needed after sacrificing more than 300,000 people to postpone the Reaper invasion. And it wasn't going to be any better in the near future. It was just a matter of time before they would infest the galaxy and so far she was unable to find any means that could help her dealing with a whole fleet of Reapers.

„I'm picking up another ship in range," noted EDI. „IFF confirmed. It's an Alliance vessel. Kilimanjaro-Class. The SSV Orizaba."

„Isn't that...," started Joker, before Jolene finished his sentence. „The ship my mother commands, yes."


	3. Chapter 3: Hannah

**Chapter III**

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><p>„It's a beautiful ship," said Miranda, who had also entered the cockpit in the meantime. All three watched the Orizaba through the windows getting bigger and bigger while the Normandy rapidly approached the Dreadnought.<p>

„Come on... granted, it looks nice, but it's nowhere near as beautiful as the Normandy," added Joker.

„That's what i expected to hear from you," said Shepard.

„To be honest, i'd say it looks more like a beast," the pilot continued. „Look at all those weapons."

„The Kilimanjaro class is armed with 156 broadside mass accelerator cannons, 78 on each side," noted EDI. „It's broadside guns are each as long as 40 percent of the ship's total width."

„I'm surprised they're sending the flagship of the Fifth Fleet," said Miranda.

„The Alliance didn't excatly know what was going on at first, so i'm not really surprised. Could have been anything. You never know with the Batarians," Shepard replied.

„Normandy, this is the Orizaba. Captain Shepard would like to come aboard your ship."

Jolene stepped forward and anwered the call. „Confirmed. We're opening our hangar for the shuttle. Normandy out."

She turned around, thinking for a brief moment. „Miri, please do me a favour and welcome the Captain. I'll expect her in my cabin."

„Sure," said Miranda and nodded. When Jolene left the cockpit, Miranda gazed after her, looking worried. She wasn't the only one who realized that Shepard had changed after what happened at Bahak. Although she could understand her in a way. The pressure on her must have been immense. They were still looking for something that would help them against the Reapers, who for their part lurked somewhere in the galaxy, looking for a way to start their invasion. And then there was also the upcoming trial Shepard had to face. Miranda wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now, despite she tried to support her as much as she could.

„Bring us alongside the Orizaba," Miranda said to Joker and set out for the elevator.

Once Shepard arrived at her quarters, she just stood in the middle of the room, thinking about what she might possibly say. Since Cerberus brought her back she hadn't spoken to her mother. She thought about contacting her a few times during the last months, but always kicked it down the road again. And now, in a few minutes, Hannah would stand right in front of her. No more excuses, no more runaround. Jolene grew more and more nervous with every second.

When Miranda stepped out of the elevator, the Orizaba's shuttle just landed in the Normandy's hangar bay. Miranda stopped a few meters besides the shuttle's door and sort of assumed an attitude. She didn't have to, after all she wasn't part of the Alliance, but she wanted to show some respect to Shepard's mother. The door opened and the Captain hopped out of the shuttle. She was alone and moved right away towards Miranda.

„Welcome aboard the Normandy, Captain Shepard. It's a pleasure to meet you," Miranda said.

Hannah first sort of examined her from head to foot, before she broke her silence. „You must be Miss Lawson, i assume."

„Correct, Ma'am. Commander Shepard is already awaiting you in her quarters. If you'd like to follow me," answered Miranda and moved towards the elevator.

„How's my daughter doing?" Hannah asked while she followed Miranda closely.

Miranda pushed a button on the control terminal, whereupon the elevator's doors opened. „To be honest, i'm a bit worried about her," she said as she stepped into it. „There are lots of things she has to deal with. Maybe too much at times. But i'd say you better ask herself. I'll hop out at the CIC, the elevator will then automatically move on to the captains quarters."

Hannah nodded, saying, „Thank you for your honest answer, Miss Lawson. I appreciate it."

Miranda smiled in return, but said nothing more.

Shepard was already waiting next to her fish tank when the door finally opened and Hannah entered the room. She assumed a formal attitude, saluted her and said, „Welcome aboard, Captain." Right after that, she more or less realized that this must have looked rather stupid.

„Please don't be so formal," Hannah just answered.

Jolene smiled and gave her mother a hug. Hannah for her part enfolded her daughter in her arms, not letting her go for like half a minute. For Jolene this moment almost felt like an eternity and she also didn't want to let go. She breathed a sigh of relief and tears began to ran down her cheeks. When Hannah ultimately released her, she raised her hands to brush the tears away and smiled at her daughter, giving her a good feeling by doing so.

„Why didn't you get in touch with me?" Hannah softly asked. „I sent you a mail when i heard some reports about you."

„I...," Jolene hesitatet and sort of hang her head in shame. „I just... i didn't know what to say. I've received your letter, read it a dozen times or more. I didn't … i couldn't find the right words. I'm so sorry."

„It's okay, it's okay," Hannah said, stroking Jolene's cheek. „You're alive. I couldn't ask for more."

„I've heard that before," Jolene answered with a smile. „Please, sit down."

Hannah moved down the steps and headed towards the sitting area. Her own cabin on the Orizaba was a little bit larger than his, but she liked it's design. Before she sat down, she looked around the quarters, whereby especially Jolene's old N7 helmet and Liara's picture on the desk catched her eyes.

„You want a glass of brandy?" asked Jolene.

„Yes, please."

Jolene grabbed two glasses out of the shelf and placed them on the desk next to Liara's picture. She looked a couple of seconds at it, then half filled the glasses with brandy. Hannah observerd her closely and she could see some kind of sadness on her face while staring at this picture.

„How's Liara?" Hannah asked her.

Jolene looked surprised at her, saying, „You know about us?"

„I do. Liara contacted me after... well, after the Normandy was destroyed. She told me about both of you, explained me what happend to you... That meant a lot to me. At least it was more than the standard death message and the letter of sympathy you receive in such a case."

Jolene picked up both filled glasses and sat down closely to Hannah, handing one of them to her. Once she picked it up, Jolene put her head on her mother's shoulder. „She never told me that."

Hannah wrapped her arm around Jolene, holding her tight and stroking her shoulder. „She seemed very nice... and i could see that it affected her deeply. As much as it did affect me."

„I can't imagine how it must have been," Jolene said, taking a pull from her glass. „I gave my life to save the crew... Joker saved my ass more than once, i couldn't just leave him behind. And after all, the Captain goes down with the ship. That's what they say, isn't it?"

„They say many things," Hannah countered. „That doesn't mean you have to follow these words."

„Believe me, i didn't rejoice while doing so," said Jolene. „At the end of the day, payback's a bitch. We destroyed the Collectors base and with it the Human Reaper they built. I killed two birds with one stone, if you like."

„But you're not going renegade now, aren't you? Working with Cerberus..., " Hannah said.

„No, of course not. Although i have to admit i felt a lot of satisfaction when i blew this base into millions of pieces. But i'm not sure if i should allocate this feeling to having my revenge, saving the colonies or breaking up with Cerberus afterwards. Maybe something of everything."

„So... how do you feel, honey? I'm worried about you. And i'm obviously not the only one."

Jolene silenced for a few seconds, thinking about if she should tell her everything. But if not her, then who? She felt her mother was the only person besides Liara where she could show her true feelings. In front of everyone else and on missions she appeared tough, professional. She had to, not only for motivational reasons. If she wouldn't focus completely on her duty while being in a dangerous situation, someone might suffer from it.

„I've had better times," she said. „So much has happened during the last years, so much things you wouln't even imagine. I have a few good friends among the crew, but i'm still feeling somewhat lonely, like there's some kind of emptiness inside me. Am i really the only one who can save this galaxy? Is it all up to me? Sometimes i wish i could just pack it all in. I want to pick up Liara and go somewhere where i can leave everything behind me. I don't want to be in the thick of the action."

„Oh sweetie," said Hannah, kissing her daughter's forehead. „When this mission is over, take some time off. I know about your upcoming trial and getting some peace before that won't harm. Spend some time with Liara, i'm sure it would do you good."

„That was the plan," answered Jolene. „But i'd love to spend some time with you, too."

„We can make up for that later. You'll need her more than you need me right now. And if you pay me a visit, bring her along. I'd like to meet her in person someday."

Jolene smiled. She was glad her mother felt his way, given the fact what she heard about some other families here and there, where parents broke contract to their child because of a relationship with an alien. After all, humanity didn't seem to have changed that much since they were able to travel throughout the galaxy. And she doubted they would ever do.

„Will do."

„Sorry to interrupt," Joker said over the comm channel. „The Orizaba's XO wants to speak with Captain Shepard."

„Put him through," both replied at the same time, followed by some laughter.

Joker rolled his eyes and then shaked his head, before he confirmed. „Yes... Ma'ams."

„Captain, i just wanted to inform you that our probe has transmitted it's data from Terra Nova," the XO said after being redirected.

„Submit them to the Normandy, we'll take a look at them over here," ordered Hannah.

„Yes, Ma'am. Transferring data now."

Jolene took both the glasses and placed them on the table, before both of them stood up.

„Let's go to the briefing room, we'll finish our talk later," the Commander said. „EDI, call for Miranda, Jacob and Garrus."

Two minutes later both Shepards stepped into the briefing room, followed by Miranda, whereas Jacob and Garrus were already waiting there.

„Two Shepards, now i feel somewhat intimidated", Jacob whispered to Garrus, who tried hard to suppress a laughter.

„EDI, show us what we've got," said Jolene. Moments later a top view of the research outpost and it's environment was projected in the middle of the room. „Tactical analysis."

„There are several batarian ships in the landing area next to the base," EDI started. „Nine of them, to be more precise. Judging by their size, there seems to be a considerable amount of Batarians down there."

The projection switched to infrared, showing more details about the amount of lifeforms down on the surface. „According to the infrared recordings, there are at least 55 enemies in and around the base. Possibly more if their thermal signatures have mixed. They apparently established two smaller outposts to the south side, one more to the north side. A few enemies are obviously guarding the back side which leads to the lake. The others are spread across the base and the landing site."

„They likely hold the scientists as hostages," noted Captain Shepard.

„Good point. That rules out a frontal attack," Jacob added.

„I'd suggest we land on the south side, take out these two outposts silently and then move on to the backside. It's more accessible from there. Once we're in, we quickly get those scientists out. Then we can bring in reinforcements," said Garrus

„Sounds good. If you have nothing more to add?" the Commander asked, specifically looking at her mother.

„Nothing to add," she responded.

„Picking up another ship on LADAR," interfered EDI. „IFF confirms it as Alliance Navy. It's the Einstein."

„The Alliance is really showing strength," said Miranda.

„That's Captain Hernandez' ship," Hannah noted. „I will coordinate with him, the Einstein can provide air support if needed."

„If that is all...," Jolene said. „Prepare yourself. We'll start in 20 minutes. Meet you at the shuttle."

„Be careful down there," said Hannah, looking at her daughter, then turned around to the others. „This also applies to everyone else, of course."

Jolene smiled at her mother in return, before they all left the briefing room.


	4. Chapter 4: First Strike

**Chapter IV**

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><p>Jolene went back up to her cabin to prepare for the mission. She stripped down her dress, grabbed her Kestrel Armor out of the armor locker and carefully equipped it piece by piece, which alone took a few minutes to get everything right. Lastly, she put a small medallion around her neck. A little present from Liara and some sort of a lucky charm for her. It was an old Asari symbol which basically represented life and death.<p>

She obtained it when they made a short stop at Illium a few weeks ago. It was pretty obvious to Jolene that Liara was keeping an eye on her in some sort and it was no problem for her to just order something like that from a local market and have it delivered to the Normandy. It came as a nice and unexpected little surprise by the time she received it and opened the box which also came with a private message from her beloved Asari.

When she finished equipping her armor by putting on her belt, she picked up the weapons stored next to the armor pieces. Unlike the others, Shepard kept her guns right in her quarters, mostly because she tried to tweak some of them in her free time and she didn't want to do that at the armory.

She also painted some unique markings on her weapons, some sort of reminder about things from the past. Her M-5 Phalanx carried a small silhouette of Sovereign, illustrating her victory over the Reaper three years ago. She also put the word „Skipper" on her Mattock in remembrance of Ashley Williams. She hadn't spoken to Ash since their brief encounter on Horizon after the colony was attacked by the Collectors. Ash's reaction kind of left a scar in her soul, but she intended to write her a letter for her birthday in a few weeks. After everything that happened following Jolene's return, she missed their friendship very much.

A few minutes later Shepard entered the Normandy's cockpit, where she joined Joker and Hannah. „All set?", she asked.

Hannah stood there with crossed arms and looked seriously at her. „We're ready. I'll return to the Orizaba once we dropped your shuttle."

„Fine," Jolene said. „Joker, activate IES systems and bring us in. I have to get down to the shuttle."

She smiled at her mother, then set off. Hannah just stood next to Joker in the cockpit and gazed after her until she entered the elevator in the CIC.

„Don't worry. She'll do her job. Just as always," mentioned Joker.

„I'm sure she will," said Hannah.

Shepard entered the hangar deck and headed straight to the shuttle, where her team was already waiting. „Ready?" she asked them once she arrived. Everyone nodded in reponse and Shepard closed the door by hitting the appropriate button. „Miri, please join me as co-pilot."

„Of course," Miranda said and followed her to the shuttle's cockpit. Both sat down and waited for the signal to launch. The Normandy was still coming closer to Terra Nova and they were supposed to be dropped off in low orbit.

„Are you okay, Joli?" Miranda asked.

„Sure. Why are you asking?"

„You seemed a bit... well... distracted recently. I'm not the only one who noticed," she added.

„Well, you certainly have a point," Shepard said. „Just too many things burdening me... Bahak, the Reapers, Liara, my mother, the upcoming trial... I think i'll get along with it, at least i try. But thanks for asking, Miri."

„I'm just bothering about you, as a friend," Miranda added and smiled. „I noticed that you were often alone in your quarters during the last weeks. I really miss our training sessions... and there's still some of the beer left that you like so much."

„You cracked one of my ribs the last time...," answered Shepard.

„I remember... i'm still sorry for that. I think we got a bit too keen to do well during that session."

„True. Had to let off some steam and i obviously didn't do a lot of thinking then. But your strong kick to my chest stopped it all. The pain from that hit obviously made me think clearly again... But you're right, we can start our training again soon. And regarding the beer... I'll definitely come back to that."

Miranda looked at Shepard as she fiddled around with some of the shuttle's controls and noticed the small string of the medallion around her neck.

„You miss Liara, don't you?"

Shepard looked at Miranda and she wouldn't have to say a single word, as her look basically answered Miranda's question. „Yeah...," she answered.

„You seem very attached to her. More than i've seen with most other persons," Miranda noted.

„To be honest, i don't think i could handle it if something happens to her. Leaving a good soldier and officer like Kaidan on Virmire was already hard, i can't imagine loosing someone i deeply love. I don't even want to think about it... And i know it was horrible for her to see the Normandy exploding and then hearing i wasn't in any of the escape pods. And the following two years of course..."

„I guess i should thank you for bringing me back," Jolene added.

Once Shepard finished her sentence, the lights in the shuttle's cockpit finally turned green and the Normandy's hangar bay opened. Jolene fired off the engines and the shuttle slowly lifted from the ground. Seconds later the Kodiak left the hangar and dropped right into Terra Nova's upper atmosphere. The shuttle was shaking heavily as it dropped down fast, passing through a giant cloud formation, while the sun was beginning to rise on the horizon.

„I'll get us short of the ground, we don't want them to spot us," Jolene said. She took a look at the beautiful scenery of the sunrise for a moment and about half a minute later the ground rushed past beyond them. They crossed rivers, forests and some hills at high speed, before they came closer to the research outpost. „We touch down right before the hills to the south of the base, shouldn't take more than a few minutes to reach the outposts from there."

A few moments later Shepard landed with the shuttle on the ground next to a small path that led through the hills. She stood up, left the cockpit with Miranda and quickly opened the side door.

„Well, alright then... Miranda, Jacob, you stay close to me. Garrus, try to reach some higher ground, so you can guide and cover us from up there."

„You can count on me, Shepard. Just like the old days," the Turian said and left the shuttle to search for a good spot.

„Let's go," added Jolene and moved outside, followed by Miranda and Jacob, who then closed the shuttle's side door on the way out.

It was still mostly dark when Garrus found a good spot for himself on top of a hill. While the first signs of the sun slowly appeared on the horizon to the west, he crouched between two larger stone formations, where he had a good view on both of the outposts. He took a closer look at them through his Widow's visor, immediately noting a weakness in their defense. Obviously the Batarians weren't that clever or at least no real military experts, because there was no direct line of sight between both outposts, which would make it much easier for the team to take them out.

Each of them housed three Batarians, armed with quite a bunch of different weapons, ranging from pistols through shotguns to assault rifles. Although there was no direct line of sight, a single shot might still be enough to alarm the others of their presence, so they needed to act carefully.

„Shepard, i'm in position," he noted through the comm channel. „No line of sight between both outposts, three enemies in each of them. I can also clearly see you from here."

„Understood," Shepard replied quietly. „Can you guide us?"

„It's still darker between the hills than up here, we should use this. Leave the path and move to the right. Their outpost is on a slightly elevated position, so you should be able to reach it unseen."

„Follow me and keep quiet," said Shepard to Miranda and Jacob. They moved off the path and to the right, just as Garrus had suggested. A few meters later they could already spot the first outpost and it's three inhabitants, who weren't really focused on their environment. Jolene signaled Jacob to take the right one, while Miranda was supposed to silence the one in the middle.

The three of them slowly crawled closer, anxious to not cause any noises. Each of them additionally had a small headset equipped which allowed them to use a helpful night vision mode, making it easier to move around in the dark valley. Fortunately Shepard was also able to deactivate the glowing lights on her Kestrel Armor, so she wasn't that easy to spot in the dark.

The team moved slowly into position and both Miranda and Jacob watched for Shepard's signal to strike. Jolene waited a few moments, then raised her fist, tilted it forward and opened it, pointing her spread fingers toward the Batarians, thus ordering the others to advance. Shepard moved forward, grabbed one of the Batarians from behind and pulled him backwards, so he fell out of the outpost. It caught them completely off-guard and they had no real chance to react appropriately. Jacob did the same on his side, while Miranda unleashed a biotic slam on the third target, lifting him in the air for a brief moment, before he was smashed down to the ground. The Batarian's head thereby hit a stone, breaking his neck immediately.

Shepard quickly kneeled over the Batarian she pulled down and striked her fist hard into his face, knocking him out with a single punch. Jacob had some more trouble with his target. He was able to whip the Batarian's weapon out of his hands, before his enemy gained the upper hand and smashed Jacob on the ground. The Batarian then tried to grab a knife from his belt, but a second later a round of bullets hit him in the back, making him slump down next to Jacob. He looked up and saw Jolene with her silenced Locust in her right hand standing in front of him, reaching out with her left hand to help him up.

„Thanks, Commander," he said and grabbed her hand. „That didn't quite work as planned."

„It's alright, Batarians are strong in close combat. You need to get them down fast."

„These two are dead," said Miranda in the background. „The other one's unconscious."

Shepard digged into one of the pockets of her belt and pulled out a sedative Dr. Chakwas had given her, then tossed it over to Miranda. „Inject him this. That should make him sleep for some hours."

While Miranda did that, Jolene stood in the middle of this small outpost, which was covered by a camouflage net, and looked around. She saw the pool of blood on the ground below the Batarian she shot down, which evoked some memories of the past. „This shit almost feels like Elysium again," she said while looking at the corpse in front of her.


	5. Chapter 5: Elysium

**Chapter V**

* * *

><p><em>Ten years ago<em>

_Elysium_

* * *

><p>„Joli, ready?"<p>

„Yeah, let's do this."

Jolene looked above the wall she was kneeling behind and saw two Batarians next to the forefront of a house, properly overlooking the area in front of them. She left her cover and fired a biotic lift at the two, raising them right into the air. „Now!" she screamed while doing so.

The soldier next to her now also left his cover, aimed with his assault rifle and shot both Batarians before they even hit the ground again. He didn't get down fast enough after that, when a grenade exploded right in front of the wall and tossed him down on his back. They had alarmed the other Batarians at this post with their attack and almost all of them immediately started to fire at their position. Jolene pulled the dazed man closer to the wall and gave a signal with her hand to two other comrades, who were hiding in a house on the other side of the street.

The Batarians were focused on Jolene and her partner, so they didn't notice the other soldiers as they started to unleash their assault rifle fire on them, taking out three more Batarians in just a few seconds. Meanwhile Jolene tried to get the man back to his mind again, slapping him on his cheek. „Hey Talas, don't leave me alone now."

She didn't even know his first name, although they already met two days before, when Shepard rallied a small resistance force against the attacking Batarians. He was from Finland and everyone called him Talas, and that was about it. After all, they needed to watch out all day, so there wasn't much time for private talking anyway.

He slowly came around again and looked at her. „What happened?" he asked, obviously still being a bit confused.

„A grenade exploded in front of you, but you're okay as far as i can tell. Everything's still at it's place."

„That's good to know," he replied and picked himself up. He grabbed his assault rifle and crawled back into a position to fight again.

„Let's finish this. Graziano and Fischer can't hold them off alone," Jolene said.

Talas nodded in response. They were still under fire, but not as much as initially. Jolene took a quick look over the cover and saw quite a few Batarians in the half demolished house they were attacking. She could count seven of them, two of them being on the upper floor. „Cover me," she said and activated a grenade. She waited two seconds, before she threw it right at the two Batarians on the upper floor, while Talas fired blind over the wall. They had no chance, as the grenade exploded just a second after it reached it's target, catapulting both of them out of the house,

„Good one," Talas said with a smile. But that didn't remain for long, when he saw what was about to happen. „Rocket Launcher, take him down!" he shouted. Both Talas and Jolene startet shooting at the remaining Batarians in there, but they couldn't stop the one with the Rocket Launcher. He fired off a rocket and Jolene watched it flying right across the street, where it hit right into the position where Graziano and Fischer were hiding. A huge blast occurred and parts of the house fell down to the street, among them was also Fischer's body.

„Shit," Jolene cursed. She left her cover and fired a biotic throw towards the Batarians, rushing two of them off her feet. She aimed with her rifle at another one and took him down with a couple of well-placed rounds. At the same time Graziano showed up again on the other side and killed two more of them. Talas suddenly left his cover now and rushed towards the house. His goal was to finish off the other two which Jolene threw back with her biotics.

„No, wait!" Jolene shouted, before she quickly jumped over the wall and followed him. Once he entered the house, he saw one of them lying on the floor, obviously being wounded and unable to defend himself. He couldn't see the second one, but he felt him soon as he was hit by the stock of a gun on the back of his head. He tumbled down and turned around on his back, so he could see the Batarian right above him. The grim looking mercenary aimed with his pistol at him and didn't hesitate for long, pulling the trigger and firing a shot right into Talas' chest. Just a moment later he himself was hit by a projectile in his head, coming from Jolene's rifle. He dropped dead right next to Talas and Shepard ran into the house. She fell down on her knees close to Talas, but it was too late for him. The Batarian's shot went right through his heart, he was without a chance.

She was silent, just looked at him, when a noise from behind alarmed her. Jolene quickly picked up her rifle, turned around and aimed at the entrance, but it was just Graziano entering the house. „Alessia... you're alright?" Jolene asked.

She didn't answer, but instead moved to the remaining and wounded Batarian next to the half collapsed wall. „That's for Fischer," she said and put three shots into his chest. Jolene should have stopped her, but she didn't. She still kneeled next to Talas and watched Alessia kill the defenceless Batarian. She felt not a single emotion right now, it was more like a mental vacuum.

Alessia came over to her and put her hand on Jolene's shoulder. „We should go," she noted. Jolene looked up at her and just nodded. Before she stood up, she picked up Talas' dog tags and tucked them away in one of her pockets.

Back in the base camp, Jolene sat down alone on the outside and looked across the neighboring lake. She held Talas' dog tags in her right hand which was slightly shivering. Two days ago, everything was so peacful around this place. But then the Batarians, Mercenaries and Pirates came and literally hell broke loose. It took her a day to find some fellow soldiers, she even knew some of them from the academy. She tried to rally a resistance force and divided the folks into groups, herself leading said squad with Talas, Fischer and Graziano.

Later that day they found this base camp, where more humans had assembled under the command of Commander Sato. They didn't have enough personnel to start a counterattack, so they focused on getting civilians out for the moment, while also eliminating smaller enemy units and taking out a few outposts, but so far they lost only one person. Now two more were dead, killed in action under Jolene's command. It was a new experience for her and she clearly didn't like the feeling it gave her.

Jolene tried to think of something nicer instead and remembered the day after she arrived at Elysium. She was at a bar that night and even today she was still kind of fascinated by the Asari dancer who worked there. It was a bit of a strange feeling for her, given the fact she hadn't seen so many aliens before. And she certainly never thought that an alien could look so sexy in her sight nor that that she would feel attracted to one, at least to some extent. Watching her was almost hypnotic, but it helped her right now when she needed it. For a moment, this thought put a little smile on her face again in all this mess.

* * *

><p><em>Present day<em>

_Terra Nova_

* * *

><p>„Path is clear, move forward," said Garrus over the comm channel.<p>

The team slowly came closer to the second outpost in the dark valley, approaching the enemy position from three sides again. But this time Shepard had another strategy in mind.

„Pull and slam," she whispered over the comm. Once Miranda and Jacob signaled their readiness, Shepard fired a biotic pull at the Batarians, levitating all of them into the air. A moment later, Miranda's biotic slam followed and hit them, smashing the three hard back onto the ground. They were still dizzy from the attack, when the team moved in and easily knocked them out one after another without causing any noises.

„Well done," Shepard noted at Miranda and Jacob. „Sedate all of them." She handed out some more sedatives to Miranda, who used them on the Batarians.

„Nice work," mentioned Garrus. „Path is clear again. I'll close up now."

It took the Turian three minutes to reach the team's position. Meanwhile more and more light came into the valley, as the sun slowly moved up on the sky. As Garrus reached Shepard's position, everyone gathered around her when she activated her Omni-Tool to display a map of the area.

„Okay, here's the rear entrance," Jolene said and pointed at a position on the back of the building.

„I think i could find a good position there", Garrus added, pointing at a close hill. „From there i should have a perfect view at the rear entrance. I could also keep the front in view, if some guards are moving around the building."

„But how do we take them out silently?" asked Miranda. „Judging by the map, there isn't much cover between the hills and the back side."

„I manufactured a silencer for the Widow a while ago, just need the right timing then to eliminate them without noticing anyone of them."

„If anyone can pull that off, it's you. Good, we'll do it this way," said Shepard. „We move along the path and get into position behind this small rock formation. Once you took them out, we'll get in and get the hostages out."

Garrus nodded and went on his way, whereas the team continued to follow the path through the valley. While on their way, Jolene contacted the Normandy.

„Shepard to Normandy... EDI, can you hack into the outpost's security systems and give me the exact position of the hostages?"

„I will try, Shepard. It will take a few moments," the VI answered, followed by a few seconds of silence. „Shepard, i can't use their internal sensors without alarming them. I suggest waiting until you're closer."

„Agreed, i'll inform you when we're ready," said Shepard.

In the meantime Garrus arrived at the top of the hill he had mentioned. He had to be more careful though, as it was already much brighter. Luckily, there were a few bushes and he kneeled in between two of them, taking a look around the region. He spotted four Batarians close to the rear entrance, three of them constantly moving around the area. Then he took a brief look at the foreside and noticed something very interesting.

„Shepard, you won't believe this," he mentioned.

„Problems?"

„Well, that depends on your point of view. But maybe you should know that Balak is here. I can see him at the foreside."

„What?" Shepard said, coming to a halt and obviously getting a little more aggressive in her tone. „Didn't expect him to come back here again. That son of a bitch won't get away this time."

„Joli," Miranda interfered, „calm down."

„He thinks he can play games with me... i'll show him how to play games," Shepard argued heatedly. „Let's get these hostages out and then i'll have to settle an old score."

„We should really...," started Miranda, but she couldn't finish her sentence.

„No discussions about this, Miri! No one was able to track him down so far, but i will," Shepard said and continued to move on. „He killed innocents back then, he's going to pay for that."

„Damn it," mumbled Miranda and followed her again. „We can discuss that later," added Jacob from behind. „We have to focus on getting the hostages out first."

„You're right. But keep an eye on her, i don't want her to do something rash."

„Shepard? Can't imagine she ever would," he noted.

„Me too, usually. But you never know when it gets personal. And i looked into her eyes, this certainly is something personal for her."

„If you think so... though i don't like it. But you're good friends, so you should know better than me."

„That's why i mention it," said Miranda.

Jacob sighed and both started to catch up with Shepard again, who walked a few meters ahead of them.


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue

**Chapter VI**

* * *

><p>Shepard and her team carefully left the path to the valley and sneaked towards a small rock formation which would cover them from being spotted by the Batarians at the rear entrace. When they reached their position, Shepard looked around to study their movements around the area.<p>

„Garrus, we're in position," she said over the comm channel.

„Confirmed, Shepard," the Turian answered. „I should be able to eliminate them without alarming anyone."

„You may start whenever you want."

He closely monitored the area to strike at the precise moment, holding the Widow smoothly in his hands. It took a few seconds, before he fired his first shot, which hit the still standing Batarian next to the door right in his head. Due to the strength of the Widow, his victim was pushed back around a meter and landed on his back.

„Now that was the easy one," Garrus mumbled to himself and aimed at his next target. This one crossed paths with another one, so he had to wait for the right moment. After a few seconds, one of them stood right beside a small descent. Garrus pulled the trigger, neutralizing his target again with a single shot. The impact made the Batarian tilt forward, so he slided down the small hillside.

Now he had to act fast, before the other one came back and would be able to spot the corpse of his comrade. His target barely came to a stand, which made him the hardest to take out. Garrus looked through the Widow's visor to follow his route. He held his breath to aim as good and steady as possible, before he fired the next shot. After nearly a second, the bullet hit the Batarian's head, making it nearly explode. The Widow was truly a powerful and deadly weapon, Garrus' favorite toy from the armory, as he once told Shepard.

One more remained, but not for too long. The hardest thing was over, the last one was basically routine for a sharpshooter with his skills. His target stopped between two trees. At the same time it was the last move in his life, a moment later another precise shot striked him down.

„All clear," he said on the comm channel.

„Excellent work," noted Shepard, „I'm glad i'm not your enemy."

„I'm sure you wouldn't be such an easy target," the Turian answered and Shepard grinned for a second.

„Keep your position, we move in now."

Shepard raised her hand and ordered the team to advance. They left their cover immediately and moved towards the backdoor at a quick pace. If those corpses weren't lying around, this would have been a really nice location with a great look at the near lake. The view reminded Jolene a bit about the lake she saw back on Elysium, where they fought the attacking mercenaries. It took them about half a minute before they arrived at the building. Shepard pressed towards the wall next to the door and equipped her Geth Shotgun.

„This could be difficult. Are you ready?" she asked Miranda and Jacob.

Miranda nodded in response, still thinking about Shepard's words regarding Balak. „If we act quickly, they won't see us coming," Jacob added.

But before Jolene could contact the Normandy, she was interrupted by Garrus.

„I think we have a problem here," he said.

„What's going on, Garrus?"

„The Batarians just led six scientists outside. They're lining them up. That's going to end ugly."

„Damn it," Shepard cursed.

A moment later Balak's voice rang out of a comm device the dead Batarian close to the backdoor had equipped. It was a message to whoever might be attacking them.

„Whoever is out there... i know you are around. Taking out our outposts silently was a smart move, too bad for you we noticed when they didn't answer our recent calls. You have two options now... You either surrender yourself or the six humans standing next to me will die in 30 seconds."

„It's either them or us," Miranda said. „They'll kill us if we surrender. And there are too much of them at the front side to start an attack on them."

„I know," Shepard sighed.

Second after second passed as the team waited for what was about to happen. „Your choice," Balak just said when the time frame ran out, then they heard a first shot over the comm device and shortly thereafter in the air.

„Damn Bastard," Shepard mumbled, closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment, while also clenching her fist and punching it against the wall behind her. Balak shot two more of them, before Jolene grabbed the comm device and smashed it on the ground, silencing it by breaking it into several pieces. Nonetheless they could still hear the remaining three gun shots echo.

„Now or never, Commander," Jacob said.

„Agreed... Normandy, please come in. We need the position of the remaining scientists now."

„I'm hacking into the system, Shepard," answered EDI. „Found their position. They're all at one place. Once in, go right, left, up the floor, left and then right again."

„Miri, open the door," Shepard said. Miranda approached the control console besides the door and activated her Omni-tool. It took a few seconds for her to hack into the mechanism and unlock the door, so she could open it by clicking a button on the console. Shepard quickly looked around the corner and couldn't spot any enemies around.

„Follow me," she commanded and moved in.

* * *

><p>Balak moved back and forth in front of the men and women he just shot, thinking about his next move. He hadn't expected that any intruder would show up as he requested, so he accepted killing a few humans just for the sake of it, to provoke a reaction by the attackers. Or it might have a scaring effect on anyone around, which might lead them to give up their plans. Before he could think any further, he received a message over his comm device.<p>

„Balak, there has been a security breach. According to the system, someone hacked into the network a minute ago and used the internal sensors of the building," one of the Batarians reported.

„They're already here," he snarled loudly. „Everyone inside the building shall relocate to the hostages!"

„You three move around the outside," he said to another group of Batarians standing next to him, who were supposed to attack the intruders from behind.

* * *

><p>„Four enemies inside, two left, two right," Shepard said to Miranda and Jacob. They meanwhile kneeled next to the door of a room connecting to the area where they held the hostages. „You take the left ones, i deal with those to the right."<p>

The team sprinted inside the room and took position behind a few crates that served them as cover. Within a moment, Shepard aimed over one of the crates and fired at the two enemies on the right side, taking out one of them with a single headshot and putting the other one down with a handful of rounds into the chest. Jacob pulled the other two into the air with a biotic attack, so Miranda could easily kill them with a few placed shots from her SMG.

Shepard then left her cover and ran through the room, jumping over a table in the middle while doing so. She reached another door and opened it rapidly with her Omni-tool. The remaining hostages were sitting inside, huddling up on the floor, a few of them shuddering with fear. With no other enemy around for the moment, they acted fast.

„We need to get you out of here, can you move?" she asked into the room.

„Thank god... yes, yes, we're able to run," one of the women responded, obviously being relieved. „We just wan't to get out of here... these Batarians, they're horrible. They made us watch the execution on the monitors..." Miranda and Jacob helped a few of them go get up while Shepard guarded the door, so they could leave as soon as possible. „I'm sorry," Shepard said. „We'll get you out of here."

„Just follow me, i take the lead. Miranda, Jacob, you provide cover at the end... Everyone move out!" she shouted and headed outside the room and back along the same way they came in. The remaining 15 scientists followed her closely with Miranda and Jacob staying at the back.

Shepard sprinted down the corridor, holding her weapon at the ready, as one Batarian suddenly moved around the corner in front of her. She aimed quickly and pulled the trigger of her shotgun, sending three projectiles towards the enemy. All three of them hammered down into his chest a second later, tossing him straight backwards into the air. He was dead before he even smashed against the wall behind him.

The three Batarians Balak had sent around the outpost meanwhile ran in the direction of the back door, as one of them was shot down by Garrus. The other two turned around once they noticed what happened and seemed to be confused for a second. A second that Garrus took advantage of and pulled the trigger again, sending another one of them with a headshot down to the ground. The remaining one tried to resume his way and sprinted as fast as he could, but he couldn't manage to get out of Garrus' line of fire as there wasn't any cover around at all. He only managed to move a few meters before he was taken out.

„Shepard, all clear outside. Took down three more enemies," he reported.

„Well done," Shepard repeated loudly while moving down the stairs close to the back door. She noticed a group of three Batarians standing down there once they turned around a corner on the staircase and immediately started to charge up, using her biotic abilties to catapult herself towards them. She smashed right into them and the resulting biotic shockwave kicked all of them off their feet. Two of them appeared to be unconscious as they were thrown hard against the walls, the third one received another direct hit out of Shepard's shotgun at close range before he could stand up again.

Garrus kept an eye on the back door, when he spotted Shepard running out of the building, followed by the group of scientists as well as Miranda and Jacob shortly after that. He could see the first Batarians in pursuit of them once the team was about halfway down the path to the valley leading to the shuttle. Ten of them came out of the rear entrance, two other groups also moved around the outside, coming from the front. He aimed at the closest of the followers and took him down.

But with this shot, Garrus also gained the attention of the two groups of Batarians next to the building, who immediately stopped and started to fire with their rifles at his position. He could eliminate two more of them, before his kinetic barriers collapsed and he had to retreat from his spot.

„Shepard, i had to draw back," he noted over the comm channel.

„Understood. Fall back to the shuttle now."

The team also came under heavy fire by their followers now, but they were already close to the entry of the valley. Lots of bullets flew around them, some of them hit the kinetic barriers of the team. One of the scientists received a headshot and tumbled down on the ground right before Jolene as they entered the valley. She was running so fast that she had to jump to avoid tripping over him. Shepard then turned around to check the situation and saw how Miranda also received a direct hit. A projectile pierced her shoulder and made her plunge down. She shouted out with pain and Shepard moved back to her.

„Jacob, get them to the shuttle!" she shouted when she ran past him and kneeled besides Miranda, while the Batarians continued to close in on them.

„Miri, you're alright?" she asked in a concerned tone and slapped a piece of Medi-gel on her shoulder.

„More or less," she groaned. „Help me up."

Shepard grabbed Miranda's hand and helped her get up on her feet again. Following that, she put away her shotgun, picked up the Mattock from her back, activated a Shield Boost and kneeled down again to have a better aim, firing several bullets in the direction of the incoming enemies.

„Run!" she yelled at Miranda and continued to fire. She managed to take down two of them by doing so, then unleashed two biotic shockwaves at the incoming group, knocking five of them off their feet. Miranda was already a fair way off when Shepard got back up and started to follow her.

She couldn't move that far along, though. Shortly after the entrance to the valley, a grenade explosion a few meters next to her tossed Jolene sideways through the air and smashed her on the sandy ground. She tried to compose herself as fast as possible and could already spot the two nearest Batarians in the corner of her eye. Still tumbling a bit, she quickly reached for her Locust and almost blind fired at one of them. She managed to kill one, before the second one reached Jolene and fiercely knocked her back down to the ground with the stock of his weapon.


	7. Chapter 7: Turning Point

**Chapter VII**

* * *

><p>Shepard lay on her side and tried to come back to her mind. She could sense the blood running down her temple after the Batarian had punched her hard with his weapon. When she looked up, she saw him standing right to next to her, now pointing his weapon down at her. Her vision being blurry, she thought about what she should do next.<p>

Garrus watched the scene from afar, but he wasn't in a good shooting position right now. He tried to climb up a close hill as fast as possible to help his Commander, but in all the rush he slided down over and over again for a bit. He only managed to come forward slowly and it made him angry, leading him to shout out some Turian swear words while he tried to move up.

Meanwhile Shepard could see better again, still waiting for a chance to get out of this situation. And the Batarian offered her one. The second he looked backwards for his comrades, Jolene immediately unleashed a strong biotic attack at full tilt. At his short distance, the attack hit him with full strength and sent him flying some meters right through the air. Jolene tried to move up and still tumbled around a bit, before she got back on her feet. She didn't think twice and grabbed the rocket launcher from her back. As soon as a group of Batarians came around the corner, Shepard fired off a rocket right into the middle of them. The explosion caused a lot of sand and dust to be tossed up in the air and also sent the whole group to the ground. Following this, Jolene started to run like hell.

In the meantime, Garrus had finally reached the top of the hill and gave Shepard cover to make sure she could reach a safe distance. Once the dust cleared, he shot one of the Batarians who had just regrouped. They moved down into cover and returned fire on Garrus' position. The Turian didn't have much cover up there and left his position quickly again after taking another one of them out. He jumped up and ran down the till, so he ended up on the path right behind Shepard.

Both of them moved towards the shuttle's landing position and regularly looked backwards to see if any of the Batarians were closing up, but no one followed them by now and they obviously seemed to have stopped their chase. It took Shepard and Garrus a few minutes to reach the shuttle, where the others were already waiting for them. Jacob treated Miranda's wound on her shoulder and both looked up when they saw Shepard and Garrus arriving.

„Joli, you're okay?" asked Miranda when she saw the blood on Jolene's face.

„I'm fine, Miri. You?"

„Well, it hurts," she answered and tried to smile along with it.

Jolene stepped over to the shuttle and grabbed a bottle of water from the inside, then walked off some meters to sit down on the grass. Her heart raced and adrenaline rushed through her body. She tried to calm down for the moment and looked around the seemingly peaceful area, before establishing contact with the Orizaba.

„Orizaba, this is Shepard, please come in."

„Hannah here, how's it going?"

„Had some trouble down here," Jolene said. „Seven scientists are dead, the others are here with me at the shuttle. I'll send them up in a few minutes with Miranda. She's wounded, too."

„And you?"

„Some scratches," Jolene answered. „But i'm fine. No more scientists at the outpost now, so we could need some air support here."

„I'll tell the Einstein to send in two fighter squadrons."

Hannah turned towards her XO for a moment, saying, „Contact the Einstein, tell Captain Hernandez to send two squadrons in for an attack.."

„Yes, Ma'am," he answered, while Hannah focussed on her daughter again. „They'll be there in a few minutes. You're going back in again?"

„Yeah, i'll finish the job. Well, after those fighters cleaned up a bit."

Jolene still sat on the grass and breathed hard, repeatedly taking a pull out of the water bottle. She observered the others while they tried to get all of the scientists into the shuttle.

„I spoke with Hackett again and got some more details about all this," Hannah added over the comm channel. „They were working on a project codenamend Lightning. It's some kind of a missile that can disable whole subsystems or even smaller ships completely with a single hit. In theory. They're still far away from a prototype, but it's not surprising the Batarians might be interested in such a technology."

„Great," mumbled Jolene. „Why the hell are they developing this here and not on Earth?"

„I don't know. But Hackett made it pretty clear that those data must not fall in the hands of the Batarians. To get hold of them, they need to access a security room. So far they couldn't unlock the door but they are close."

„Why don't they just blow away the door?"

„There's a separate safety system inside this room. If someone tries to access the room without the correct code, all data will be erased automatically."

„Clever," said Jolene. „Okay then... should get back to work here."

„Take care."

„Will do, Shepard out."

While Jolene finished her conversation, Jacob stepped closer and reached out to her. She grabbed his hand and moved up on her feet.

„You're alright, Shepard?" he asked while helping her up.

„Yeah. We're getting some air support soon, so grab Garrus and prepare to move in again."

„Alright. What about Miranda?"

„I'll talk to her, Jacob," Shepard said and moved in her direction. She still tried to fit all the scientists inside the shuttle, while also holding her wounded shoulder.

„Miri?"

„Are we going back again?" she asked.

„Me, Jacob and Garrus are heading back to the outpost, you take the scientists to the Orizaba."

„What? I won't leave all of you down here!" Miranda emphasized, not feeling happy about it.

„Look at yourself. Your shoulder hurts and you can't fight with both arms..."

„But i can still help you," she argued.

„Miri, no. That's an order."

Miranda turned around and walked a few steps towards the shuttle. She thought about deepening the discussion further, but quickly realized that Shepard was probably right with what she said.

„Okay...," she mumbled while looking over her shoulder. „Good luck."

Having said that, she stepped into the shuttle and closed the door behind her. She shoved past all the passengers and moved into the cockpit, then sat down in the pilot seat. After hitting a few buttons, the shuttles's engines fired off. Their blast threw a little dust around the area, as Shepard moved backwards and away from the shuttle and got her Mattock ready for battle. She slowly walked over to Jacob and Garrus and observed the shuttle starting and gathering pace.

„Shepard!" Garrus suddenly shouted. „We've got problems!"

Jolene turned her head around and could see right away what Garrus meant. Three Batarian ships had started from the base and were heading towards the team. But they didn't target them, instead they adjusted their course to follow the shuttle.

„Miri, you've got company," Jolene said over the comm channel. „Three ships closing in fast."

„I see them," answered Miranda and clicked some buttons to reroute more power to the engines.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile two of the Einstein's fighter squadrons entered Terra Nova's upper atmosphere, heading down towards the science outpost.<p>

„Shepard, this is Alpha leader, what's your status?" the squadron leader asked over the comm channel.

„Waiting for some fireworks from you guys. Besides that, three Batarian ships are chasing our shuttle."

„We can see them. They shouldn't be a problem," he responded. „Eta Squadron, take care of the shuttle's security, we start our attack run on the base."

„Roger that, Alpha leader, we're heading out."

Moments later the Eta wing broke formation and changed it's course to intercept the Batarian ships following the shuttle. They had reached weapons distance in the by now and the shuttle was already under heavy fire coming from the three followers. They could consider themselves lucky that the Kodiak had a robust kinetic barrier system that was able to absorb most of the shots, at least for the moment. Still, the hits gave the shuttle and it's passengers a good shake with every single hit. Miranda tried her best to evade the shots and keep the shuttle out of their gunfire, but it was hard to manage while having three of them right on the back.

Merely ten seconds later the Alliance figthers came into range of fire and started to take on the Batarians. They dashed against the enemy from above and managed to literally perforate two of their ships in their first attack. Both of them exploded in a glowing fireball and their burning pieces fell down the sky towards the surface.

The fighters took a short turn after their initial attack to start another run as fast as possbile, while the shuttle left Terra Nova's atmosphere. The remaining Batarian ship still sticked behind them and unleashed it's fire on the Kodiak. With the pursuer being slightly more maneuverable than the shuttle, Miranda was unable to shake them off. Just before the Alliance fighters came into firing range again, the shuttle's kinetic barriers collapsed, leaving it vulnerable against any incoming fire.

„Our shields are down!" shouted Miranda into the comm channel.

„We're on them!"

One of the fighters fired off a rocket to take out the Batarian ship, but before it reached the vessel and blew it into pieces, it's last shots hit one of the Kodiak's rear thrusters, causing some severe damage on it. Several warning lamps immediately lightened up in the cockpit and Miranda couldn't do very much but trying to shut down the engines quickly, but in the end she wasn't fast enough.

„Hold on!" she yelled.

Just moments later a small chain reaction occurred in the thruster and moved right through the shuttle, resulting in a huge blast which basically ripped the ship into two parts. While Miranda and the scientist besides her were given a good shake, she could hear screams from the back, before they silenced in the very next seconds, as the scientists got soaked out into the cold vacuum of space. Except Miranda and one remaining scientist in the sealed cockpit everyone was gone. Both reached behind their seats to grab a breather mask in case there might be a small leak somewhere on the hull.

The cockpit drifted around and away from the rear part of the shuttle, whose element zero core exploded in another blast about half a minute after the initial explosion. The resulting shockwave hit the cockpit again, but didn't cause any further damage.

„Shuttle is down," reported one of the pilots.

Shepard's team heard their communication all along and in the first moment they seemed kinda shocked and looked doubtfully at each other.

„Shit!" Jacob cursed. „What about Miranda?"

„The cockpit appears to be intact, i'll take a closer look now," Eta leader replied.

While Miranda and the scientist tried to keep cool, she spotted a fighter flying close by to them and both passengers clearly visible waved her hands to show that they're okay. With the shuttles communication system down, they couldn't contact them otherwise.

„Two persons in the cockpit, they seem to be alright."

Jacob, Shepard and Garrus all sighed a breath of relief and Jolene slapped on Jacob's shoulder as she passed him. She knew he was close with Miranda and he realy seemed to be relieved for the moment. Just as well as herself, because Miranda was one of her best friends on the Normandy right now.

„Shepard to Normandy," she spoke into the comm. „Joker, pick them up asap."

„Already on our way, Commander."

„So all this trouble was for nothing?" asked Jacob.

„No, but they... There's still a job to do," said Jolene. „And Balak's gonna pay for that."


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontation

**Chapter VIII**

* * *

><p>While Eta squadron was still busy with providing security for the cockpit of the Normandy's destroyed shuttle, Alpha squadron rushed down towards the science outpost to start it's attack run at the Batarians on the ground.<p>

„Everyone focus on the ships first, we need to keep them on the ground."

„Roger, Alpha leader."

As soon as they came into firing range, they started to fire off their guns and rockets at the landing place next to the base. On the ground, a bunch of Batarians ran away from the ships as they spotted the attackers and the first rockets striked their targets, resulting in a few huge blasts. Wreckage and Batarians alike were slung through the air by the explosions. After having unleashed their first attack, the fighters raced along the sky over the base, moving into position for another approach. Meanwhile a few Batarians made use of this short timeframe and manned stationary guns on the ground which they build as well as in the remaining ships and returned fire at the Alliance fighters.

„Incoming fire from the ground, evasive maneuvers," the Alpha leader ordered.

While the fighters tried to avoid this slightly defensive fire, the Batarians had another card up their sleeve. Four hatches on the outposts roof opened and from each of them another turret emerged. They automatically started to aim at the fighters right away and unleashed their heavy fire at them.

„Orizaba, this is Alpha leader, you didn't mention any turrets on the base itself. We're under heavy fire here."

While he contacted the ship, the fighter flying next to him was hit on it's engines and immediately began to spin towards the ground. The pilot couldn't manage to bail out fast enough and the vessel crashed into one of the hills at the south side of the base, bursting into thousands of pieces.

„Alpha leader, those turrets aren't on the construction plans we received," the Orizaba's XO responded.

„Must be top notch technology, they're utilizing rapid fire..."

Before the squad leader could add another sentence, one more fighter was shot down from the sky and dropped down into the shimmering lake. It's pilot managed to get out shortly before the impact and started to swim towards the shore as soon as he landed in the water.

„Shit, one more down! Those turrets give us hell!"

„Alpha, Eta, abort mission and return to the Einstein," commanded Hannah.

„Understood, everyone back to base," he said and the fighters moved back up into the sky.

* * *

><p>„They're retreating. It seems they were surprised by those turrets," one of the Batarians inside the base said to Balak.<p>

„Excellent. How long until we have access to the security room?"

„We're almost there. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

„Good," Balak replied. „We need those files as soon as possible so we can get out of here. They certainly won't leave it at that. How many ships are still operational?"

„Four in the landing area. The other ones are destroyed or too severly damaged to use them."

„Prepare them for launch, so we can get away when we have what we want," he said. „And keep your eyes open, i don't want any surprises."

The other Batarian nodded, then picked up his rifle from a near table and rapidly headed out to the landing zone.

* * *

><p>„Jolene, can you hear me?" Hannah asked on the comm channel.<p>

„Loud and clear," she replied. „We're moving in through the hills again. Saw one fighter crashing down not far from us.."

„Yes, we lost two fighters in the attack. It seems there are some turrets that aren't mentioned on the construction plans. We guess they must have been installed only recently. You need to shut them down before we can drop down any troops close to the base."

„We'll do. What about our shuttle?"

„The Normandy has picked up what's left of it, not really much more than the cockpit. One scientist and Miss Lawson in there. They're alright."

„Glad to hear... Shepard out," Jolene said, before she turned to Garrus and Jacob. „Let's step on it and finish this."

It took them about six more minutes before they closed in at the back entrance of the outpost again. This time there weren't any Batarians within sight. At least no alive ones, though the corpses from their first attack were still spread around the area. The team carefully approached the door and positioned right in front of it with their weapons at the ready. But before they moved in, Jolene activated her Omni-tool to look on the map for the security room.

„Okay, both of you stay behind me, i'll lead the way," she said. „I guess we can expect some heavy resistance. Also keep an eye on our rear side, i don't want them to stab us in the back."

„Understood, Shepard," Jacob replied, while Garrus just nodded.

„Let's move," said Jolene and opened the door. Once it was open, she carefully looked around the corner, but no Batarian was visible inside. She slowly stepped in, followed by Jacob and Garrus, and moved to the left side of the main floor. They passed several corridors without any contact with the enemy, before they reached a staircase.

„We have to move downstairs to the next level," she quietly noted and led the way again. They tried to avoid any loud noises, but then Jolene lifted her hand to give Jacob and Garrus a signal to stop. She had spotted two Batarians in the middle of the floor they needed to take to reach the security room. After quickly equipping her Locust, Jolene launched a biotic pull at them, lifting them right into the air. Following her attack, the team moved into the corridor and Jolene fired several shots at the two Batarians, taking them out silently.

After passing another couple of corridors, they reached the security room area. Shepard leaned towards the wall and looked around the edge. She could see that the door to the room was open, but there weren't any Batarians in sight. A few seconds passed, before she grabbed her Mattock and moved towards the room. They slowly entered it with their weapons at the ready, but it was empty. Jolene lowered her gun and walked over to the control terminal inside, taking a look at the logs, while Jacob and Garrus still kept their eyes open.

„Dammit, we're too late. They managed to download the files," Jolene cursed.

„The Alliance won't be very happy with that," noted Jacob.

„It's not over yet," added Jolene and turned away from the terminal. Just as she wanted to move back to the door, it suddenly closed and a Batarian stepped in front of it. Upon taking a closer look through the small window embedded into the door, she could see that it was Balak. He hit a button next to the door, so he could speak to the team now trapped inside the room.

„Shepard... So we meet again," he said, apparently amused by the situation.

Jolene didn't say a word, but raised her rifle and fired ten shots right in the direction of his head, but the thick glass was able to hold off all the projectiles.

„Son of a bitch, get in here so i can beat the shit out of you!" Shepard shouted, sounding very furious in this moment.

„Maybe at some other time, because i have to leave now," Balak noted. He showed a sardonic grin on his face and waggled the data disc he obtained in front of the window, provoking Jolene even more.

„See you next time," he added, then stepped away. Following that, Shepard moved back and forth in the room, thinking about what to do next so they could get out of their lock-up as fast as possible.

* * *

><p>„Captain, we just lost contact with the team on Terra Nova," the Orizba's XO reported to Hannah.<p>

„Where were they?"

„Inside the base, but their signal just disappeared moments ago."

Hannah looked worried, but made short work. „Send the marines in."

„I hope these turrets aren't active anymore," the XO mentioned.

„Then avoid them! Tell them to touch down a bit offside if they have to, but just get those marines down there."

„Aye," he confirmed and gave the already prepared shuttles in the Orizaba's hangar bay the start signal.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Jolene tried to unlock the security room's door with the help of her Omni-tool and the control terminal, but somehow Balak had been able to deactivate the whole locking system, thus making it impossbile for her to find a quick way out in this manner. She smashed her fist at the terminal once she realised it and decided to use a more raving method.<p>

„Then we'll do it the hard way," she mumbled and grabbed her rocket launcher from the back. „Get some cover, guys."

Jacob and Garrus quickly knocked over a table in the medium sized room and ducked behind it, while Shepard was standing behind the control terminal. She aimed at the door and fired off a rocket. The impact caused a shockwave that almost resulted in her being rushed off her feet. The door itself was damaged, but still not open, so she hit the trigger again and sent a second rocket on it's way. Another explosion occured and this time it finally teared out the heavy door out of it's wall mounting.

Before they eventually moved out of the room, Jolene used the control terminal again to deactivate the turrets on the roof. Balak obviously overlooked that they would be able to do this from down here, so she had no major problems while doing so. Once outside, she was also able to use the comm channel again.

„Orizaba, this is Shepard."

„Thank god," Hannah replied. „What happened down there?"

„We were trapped inside the security room, which blocked our comm channel. The Batarians have the files from the main computer."

„I've already sent the marines, they should arrive soon."

„I'm afraid they won't be here in time," Jolene said. „We'll try to stop them."

„No heroics, please," Hannah noted. „We can intercept them once they started."

„I'll deal with his myself. I won't step back and give them a chance to escape. Not again."

„Alright," sighed Hannah. „But keep your eyes open."

Having finished her talk, Jolene plugged a fresh thermal clip inside her Mattock and headed back towards the stairway they passed though before.

„Come on, we've got something to do."


	9. Chapter 9: To the end

**Chapter IX**

* * *

><p><em>Ten years ago<em>

_Elysium_

* * *

><p>It was a quiet night on Elysium, much to the joy of those defending the city against the vicious attackers. After a day full of fights they could finally rest for some hours, but in the morning this whole mess would start all over again.<p>

Jolene managed to sleep for about four hours, but now, at around 6:00 am, she was already awake again. Alessia sat next to her and had her head on Jolene's shoulder. They knew each other from the academy and back then, several years ago, they even spent a night together. Although they never really spoke to much about what happened that night. Even less right now in this situation. Shortly afterwards their ways separated and they got out of touch in the following years until they met again in the middle of all this mess on Elysium. She was still slumbering and Jolene thought about everything that happened during the recent days. How long did this fight already last? She couldn't tell, in all this chaos she had lost her track of time.

Right now she wasn't happy at all. When she arrived at Elysium, it was supposed to be some time of relaxation for her, but now she wasn't only fighting for her own, but also for the lives of many other humans that lived on this world. Usually a peaceful planet, which suddenly turned into a cruel war zone when the mercenaries started their attack.

They had silence for about three more hours, before things started to heat up again. Two lines of defense were built up back around their camp, so they could get civilians out in this direction, some of them on boats over the lake, others with shuttles. Just to get them away from the frontlines, back inland. Some more groups were coming in this morning and a few of the civilians reported that the mercenaries were on the march and right on their way to this camp.

Commander Sato, who took the charge of this camp when it was established, rounded up all the fighters around him, including soldiers like Shepard, police officers and even civilians with enough combat experience.

„Okay, listen everyone! We have confirmed that the mercenaries have started another offensive and should arrive here in about 20 minutes. It's our job to hold them back. There are still a few hundred civilians around the camp and we all can imagine what happens to them if they catch them."

„But we won't let that happen," he added. „We won't let them cross this line of defense. You have done an amazing job during the last days. Of course we have suffered losses, but we saved so many humans. And there are still many more to save. These people rely on us and we won't let them down. You all know your positions. Get ready for the fight and give them hell!"

Jolene and Alessia moved with two other guys to a low, but solid wall on the first line of defense. She didn't know the names of these guys, but she was in command of the group and sent one of them a few meters to the left and the other one to the right, while she remained with Alessia in the middle. All of them just sat there and tensely waited for the attackers to arrive. They barely said anything and mostly fiddled around with their weapons to have them ready when the need would arise.

It took around 15 minutes before they could hear the first gunshots in the vicinity. Everyone grabbed their weapons and looked over the wall to the other side of the street. They couldn't see anyone yet, but the could clearly hear the gunshots coming closer with every second. It only took a few more moments before Jolene saw the silhouettes of some Batarians in and between the buildings on the other side of the street. She signaled the others not to fire yet, but instead they kept waiting for the right moment to strike.

When the first enemies pushed forward and tried to cross the street, Jolene looked out of the cover and moved her rifle on the wall to start firing. She pulled the trigger and the first projectiles left her gun, taking one of the attackers down to the ground. The others joined in quickly and fired round after round at them, taking a handful more of the attackers out. Some of them kept pushing forward, others got into cover, but now they also started to return fire. There were way more of them than in Jolene's group and so they came under heavy fire.

It didn't take long before their comrade on the right side was hit by a few bullets and dropped down dead on the grass beneath him. Grenades exploded close to them, throwing dirt and stones through the air. They couldn't really aim at the attackers anymore and their blindfire wouldn't help them much either in this situation, so there wasn't much of a choice left, before Jolene ordered a retreat.

„There's too many of them! Fall back!" she shouted and started to run back towards the camp and the second line of defense.

Alessia was right behind her, as both jumped over another wall to get some more cover, while bullets rushed past them and hit the ground and walls around them. They waited a moment for their second comrade, but he didn't follow. Alessia took a glimpse over the cover and saw his corpse lying a few meters away on the ground. He got hit by a volley of bullets in his back, before he could reach their safe position.

„He's dead. Let's get moving," Alessia said. Jolene nodded in response and they ran back to the camp. On their way back they heard other groups over the comm channel and it didn't sound good all over the place. Almost everyone of the defenders was drawing back and Sato ordered all of them to return to the camp, so they could combine their forces there.

It took Jolene and Alessia roughly three minutes to get back to their base, where they moved right away into a new position. Jolene looked around the others and she could spot many anxious faces around the area. If she had a mirror with her, she would have likely seen the same expression on herself.

A shuttle with more refugees started behind them, as three rockets rushed over the soldiers heads towards the craft. They hit it hard and it broke apart mid-air in a huge blast. The shuttles burning wreckage fell off the sky and quite a few larger parts killed even more people on the ground who were waiting down there to get away. She couldn't see everything accurately, but obviously there were also a few children and families among the victims of this attack.

When their comrades started firing again, Jolene had to shake off the horrible scenes, turned her view back towards the front and could see many attackers on the move. She tried to aim as precise as possible and fired off only single shots. It wasn't easy for her, though. The ground shook almost constantly due to the explosions caused by rockets and grenades and more and more fellow allies besides Jolene went down after being hit.

„Stay here," she said to Alessia and moved a bit to the right. Before she could go to far, an explosion ripped a hole into the wall next to her and she could see three Batarians entering their defense position. She used the cloud of dust from the blast to her advantage, started up on her feet and ran her knife right into the throat of one of them. While he gasped and collapsed, Jolene aimed with her shotgun at the second one and pulled the trigger. The Batarian took a full load from it as she held it right in front of his chest and flew a few meters through the air, but then she received a heavy hit herself just under her right eye from the last one of them.

The strike was so hard that it broke his weapon and made Jolene plunge on her back. He had no other firearm, so he picked a knife from his belt to finish his job. But before he was able to dump his knife into her body, Jolene managed to pick up a gun from a body next to her and sent several shots into the Batarian's chest.

Her heart beat fast and a lot of adrenaline now rushed through her veins. Right as she tried to get back on her feet, Jolene was hit by a shot in her shoulder and fell back to the ground again. She cried out in pain and and creeped towards the closest part of the wall. While leaning towards it, she breathed heavily and managed to shoot down two more Batarians who tried to break through and didn't see her down there.

She didn't know if she would survive the next minutes, but she felt no regret doing all this. It was her duty and they had saved a lot of people already. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a number of explosions. Jolene looked up and what she saw felt like a redemption to her. Alliance gunships dropped down from the sky and unleashed their heavy fire on the enemy troops below them. They were accompanied by several shuttles, who landed between the camp and the lake, where most of the civilians had gathered. A lot of Alliance marines disembarked from them and headed towards Jolene's position, while the mercenaries stopped their advance and fell back.

„Alessia, you're okay?" Jolene asked, but she didn't get an answer from her friend.

She couldn't see her position from where she sat, so she slowly crawled over in her direction. Her shoulder hurt like hell and as she moved around the corner, she could spot Alessia lying on her back almost motionless. She saw a few bullet holes on her chest, but she was still breathing. Jolene cringed closer, kneeled besides her, pulled her close and moved Alessia's head on her legs. Alessia looked at her and she had this scared facial expression, which gave Jolene goose bumps.

„Thank you for not leaving me alone," Alessia painfully whispered, while Jolene grabbed her hand and held it tight. She was unable to say something right now and simply tried to be there for her. Alessia obviously got weaker with every second that passed and just a few moments later she stopped breathing. Her wounds were too serious and Jolene also had no Medi-gel on her person to treat her. Alessia's lifeless eyes still kind of stared at Jolene and it took her some seconds to overcome the shock, before she was able to move her hand over Alessia's face to close them with her fingers.

Jolene carefully dropped Alessia's head back to the ground and let herself fall back to the wall besides her. She looked around the area and there wasn't much more than chaos and destruction visible, burning ruins and dead bodys everywhere around her. In the end, she was the only soldier at this position to survive the attack. But after all, they managed to hold them back long enough for the Alliance to send reinforcements and thus saved many civilians. It was a minor, but dearly bought victory. Jolene just stared at the environment for a few more seconds while the marines began to secure the camp.

Ultimately, Jolene slowly began to realize what had happened and that it was over now. Although she felt no relief at this very moment, but instead let her head sink into her arms and started crying.


	10. Chapter 10: Escape

**Chapter X**

* * *

><p><em>Present day<em>

_Terra Nova_

* * *

><p>Jolene led the way and the team moved from the security room back through the corridors and up to the main floor again. Once they arrived there, they turned around and Jolene pressed herself against a wall, then took a glimpse around the next corner.<p>

„Open space," she said. „Three Batarians to the left, two on the right side. There are a few explosive canisters next to the group of three. Your turn, Garrus."

The Turian leaned out from behind the corner, aimed with his Vindicator rifle and fired a Concussive Shot at the canisters. The high-energy charge rushed through the room and resulted in a powerful explosion when it hit it's target, throwing the Batarians in the proximity through the air. Jolene left her cover and barraged forward, while firing with her Mattock at the two other enemies. One of them sent a rocket right into her direction and she had to throw herself down on the floor to dodge it. It crashed into the wall behind her and the following blast ripped a huge hole into it.

Jolene still lay on the floor and stretched one of the Batarians down with a headshot, while Jacob pulled the other one up in the air, where Garrus finished him off with a round of bullets. Jolene quickly stood up again and saw Balak in the far distance as he entered one of the Batarian ships at the outside.

Balak for his part could see the fight inside the building and that Shepard and her team were closing in on his position. He didn't bother too much, though, as he was just entering the ship which had already started it's engines.

„Eliminate them!" shouted Balak at the remaining Batarians on the ground who didn't fit into the space of the four ships. Then he closed the door of the shuttle as it lifted off the ground, accompanied by the other vessels that were still functional.

Shepard's team continued to push forward and now had to face heavy Batarian resistance at the forefront of the building. Jolene, Garrus and Jacob crouched behind a few crates and returned fire from there.

„Cover me!" Jolene shouted at them and both Garrus and Jacob started to concentrate their fire at the Batarians. While they did that and thus kept quite a few of them in check, Jolene moved a few meters to the side, where she had a good sight at two enemies. She used her biotics to pull them into the air, making them easy targets for her companions.

Their fight lasted for two more minutes, but they couldn't make any real progress during that time. While Jolene thought about a possible strategy to break through their lines, the Orizaba's shuttles landed in front of the base, giving them a chance to press forward and pursue Balak. Their doors opened and several groups of marines trooped out and engaged the remaining enemies in a hefty firefight.

„Garrus, Jacob, move on!" Jolene yelled and started to run in the direction of one of the shuttles that just arrived. It was their chance to take up the chase. While on their way, she fired a few shots at some Batarians around the area, but also had to absorb a few hits herself. Garrus and Jacob followed her, firing bullets and biotics around the place as well. It was pure chaos now and shots flew around everywhere. When they almost reached the shuttle, Jolene's shields took some more hits and started to collapse, but she seemed to take no account of it.

„Shepard, your kinetic barrier is down!" shouted Garrus from behind her as he noticed. She tried to activate her Geth Shield Boost with her Omni-tool when she heard his words, but couldn't do it in time. Three projectiles hit her left thigh and smashed through her armor right in the middle of her sprint towards the shuttle, making her fall down to the ground. She held her leg for a moment, while showing a face twisted with pain.

Garrus and Jacob reached her seconds later and kneeled besides Jolene to cover her. She used this moment and managed to activate her Shield Boost to give her some more protection in this vulnerable state and also slapped some additional Medi-gel on the wounds.

„Garrus, help me up," Jolene said in a painful voice. The Turian grabbed her arm and assisted Jolene in getting up on her feet again. She tried to move on to the shuttle and almost tumbled down again, but Garrus catched her and stabilized Jolene on the last few meters to the shuttle. She carefully stepped inside the vessel with the help of one of the pilots and dropped her rifle to the floor, then let herself dump down onto one of the seats in there.

„Take us to the Normandy immediately," Jolene said to the pilot, who then vanished into the cockpit and fired off the shuttle's engines seconds later. As the shuttle launched, she looked out of the window on the door and could see how the remaining Batarians fell back into the outpost, whilst the marines continued to advance.

Garrus sat across from her and just stared at Shepard at this point. Her face was covered with dirt and blood due to the wound on her temple and there were also the three bullet holes on her bloody thigh. He had never seen her wounded like that before and observed her with a worried look. Jacob meanwhile kneeled next to Jolene and scanned her leg with his Omni-tool.

„The Medi-gel will help for now, but you'll need some treatment," he said.

„That can wait, we need to catch Balak first," answered Jolene.

„Commander..."

„Dont argue with me now, Jacob."

She didn't want to discuss any further about it and instead contacted the Normandy.

„Joker, status report."

„Ah, Commander. It looks like we've missed some Batarians. Those four ships that started from the base... well, they're not alone and got company," Joker said.

„Where did they come from?"

„It appears they were waiting on another location on Terra Nova. Probably some sort of backup just in case something happens. Anyway, the Orizaba's probe didn't spot them when it scanned the area around the base," he added.

„And how many of them?"

„Ten more, so that makes fourteen in total. The Normandy and the Orizaba stand between Terra Nova and the relay, so we will face them. The Einstein is positioned a bit more in an offside position, but they're starting fighters right now."

„I doubt the Batarians want to get involved into a fight, they'll likely try to break through our lines," said Shepard. „Get the Normandy's GARDIAN systems ready and destroy as many ships as you can."

„Yes, Ma'am. Been looking forward to some target practice."

„Just don't get too excited about it. Shepard out."

Following the conversation, Joker brought the Normandy's defense systems online and maneuvered the ship into position behind the Alliance Dreadnought. The Orizaba meanwhile turned sideways and pointed her broadside towards the incoming Batarian ships.

* * *

><p>„Get all weapons ready," said Hannah. „Let's make sure we adequately welcome them."<p>

„Powering up weapons," her XO replied.

„Start firing as soon as they're in range," Hannah added. „I don't want any of them to get through."

„Captain, the Einstein's fighters won't reach us quite in time. They are about a minute behind."

„Understood. What can you tell me about these Batarian ships?" Hannah asked

„It's a mixture of vessels. Four shuttle-sized crafts, three frigates and the rest looks like it's somewhere in between."

A few minutes passed until the Batarian ships came into firing range and the Orizaba's mass accelerator cannons started to fire immediately at them. Hundreds of projectiles rushed through space and hit the kinetic barriers on the enemy ships. A few shots proved to be direct hits and ripped one of the shuttles apart within the first moments of the battle. The incoming ships tried to evade the Orizaba's massive fire as best as they could, while the frigates and some of the smaller ships also sent swarms of rockets and torpedoes on their way back to the Dreadnought.

„Lots of incoming missiles, Captain," the XO said.

„Concentrate defensive fire on them," ordered Hannah. „Shepard to Normandy, hold back for a few more moments. Wait for my signal to step in."

„Understood, Captain," replied Joker. „Waiting for your command."

* * *

><p>„Whats our status?" Jolene asked the shuttle's pilot over the comm channel.<p>

„Three minutes until we reach the combat zone. The Orizaba has engaged the enemy forces, but they're also under fire. The Normandy hasn't attacked yet."

„They certainly don't want them in between the broadside fire," noted Garrus.

„Shepard to Orizaba, we could need a pickup here."

„Confirmed, i'll send the Normandy in now," answered Hannah.

* * *

><p>Once he got the greenlight, Joker fully accelerated the Normandy and set a course right towards the Batarian ships.<p>

„Let's see what you make of this," he said to himself and pushed a button to activate the ships Thanix Cannon.

„You're enjoying this, don't you?" asked Miranda, who stood right behind him and observed the battles' progress.

„Partly, but yes," Joker added and pressed the fire button. „Take this!"

A bright blue beam emerged from the gun below the Normandy's bow and hit one of the Batarian frigates. The beam cut right through it's hull and caused a huge explosion in it's engine section, which pulled the ship apart into thousands of pieces. The Normandy rushed past the burning wreckage towards Shepard's shuttle, while also taking a few slight hits from the surrounding ships.

Joker brought the Normandy close to the shuttle as fast as he could and opened the hangar bay, so they could land inside. It took them a few seconds to touch down on the floor inside and Jolene quickly jumped up to open the shuttle's side door. Although she felt a lot of pain from her thigh at the moment, she tried to ignore it and set off for the elevator as soon as she left the vessel. Garrus and Jacob followed her at close range.

In the meantime Joker had already turned around the Normandy and closed up to the fleeing Batarian vessels. The Orizaba managed to take down another frigate and four smaller ships while the Normandy picked up the shuttle, but the ships had now passed the Dreadnought. Although they had to face the broadside fire from the Orizaba's other side on their way to the relay and the Einstein's fighters also overhauled them.

Except two of the smaller vessels, all other Batarian ships suddenly swarmed out to distract their followers. A few containers were dropped from the remaining frigate, which released several small mines behind the ship moments later, whereby they could take out almost an entire squadron of fighters. The other ones abandoned their pursuit right away to evade more of the mines and instead focussed on destroying the four smaller crafts in the area.

* * *

><p>When Jolene reached the Normandy's cockpit, she had to support herself against Joker's pilot seat.<p>

„Whoa, Commander. You don't look good," he said.

„Charming as usual. Report."

„The majority of enemy ships has been destroyed. There's one frigate trying to get away and two shuttles heading to the Mass Relay."

„Balak was in a shuttle," said Jolene. „So we'll go for them."

„Shepard, my calculations show that we are only able to destroy one of them before they reach the relay," interfered EDI. „You need to choose one."

„Can't we get any faster?"

„We're already at maximum speed. A further and slight improvement would take some time. More time than we have," the VI added. „Three minutes until we are in firing range."

„Fantastic," Jolene mumbled, not very keen about the situation. She wandered around the cockpit and took her time to think about it. „There's no way to find out on which shuttle he is?"

„No," was the only answer EDI could offer her.

The minutes passed and Jolene waited until the very last moment to make a decision. „Take out the right one," she said as she stepped next to Joker.

„Aye, Commander," answered Joker and pushed the fire button. As a result, the Normandy fired off several of it's disruptor torpedoes, which hit the Batarian shuttle to the right a few moments later and ripped it apart in a gleaming blast. The next second the other one began it's jump through the relay, but not before Jolene could hear Balak's voice over the comm channel: „Better luck next time, Shepard."

After hearing his voice, Jolene became furious at a moment's notice and punched her first at full tilt right into a control terminal on the bridge, thus breaking it's surface. Consequently, a few metal parts penetrated her gloves and injured her hand as well. She was ready to curse loudly, but held it back in front of the crew around her.

„We can track him down," said Miranda and tried to comfort her.

„That's what i said three years ago," Jolene answered and shook her head. Right now she could feel all the pain coming back again. Her leg hurt and was still slightly bleeding after the hits she received during the fight on the ground. She scratched her forehead and noticed how her view slowly became blurred again.

„I'm not feeling so well, Miri. I'll... get to the med bay," she added and tried to leave the cockpit. But she didn't come too far, began to totter after a few steps and blacked out, collapsing in the middle of the hallway and hitting hard on the floor.

Miranda hastened to her and turned Jolene on her back, while Garrus and Jacob also raced in from the CIC. Jolene had lost her consciousness, but Miranda's Omni-tool told her that she was still alive and breathing.

„Doctor, Shepard has just collapsed," she let Chakwas know over the comm channel, signaling Garrus and Jacob at the same time to take Jolene down to the medical bay.

„Understood, i'm expecting you here," the Doctor replied.

„Joker, inform the Orizaba," added Miranda, then turned around and left the cockpit. While she followed Garrus and Jacob, who carried Shepard to the elevator, Joker gazed after them with a worried look on his face. Lastly, he shook his head and turned over with his seat again to call the Dreadnought.


	11. Chapter 11: Consequences

**Chapter XI**

* * *

><p><em>6 hours later<em>

_Normandy SR-2, medical bay_

* * *

><p>Jolene blinked when she woke up in the medical bay, lying on a table and trying to look around the room. Her head was spinning, her vision still blurry and the light from the room's ceiling dazzled her, but she was able to recognize Miranda, who slightly bend over her.<p>

„Please tell me this isn't Project Lazarus again," Jolene mumbled.

„Not this time, Joli," Miranda answered and grinned. „Seems like your memories are alright."

„Yeah... we defeated the Reapers last week and now we can head off to vacation, right?"

„Not quite," said Hannah from behind and stepped closer to the medical table. „But it's good to see you're doing fine under these circumstances."

„Indeed she does," added Doctor Chakwas.

„What happened?" asked Jolene while Miranda helped her up into a sitting position on the table.

„Well, you definitely had to take a few hits," Chakwas continued. „I treated the bullet wounds on you thigh, although you're going to feel some aftereffects for a few days. And there's also a concussion you have from a strong hit on your head. Altogether led to your black out."

„And you didn't gently touch down on the floor either," added Miranda.

„What about your shoulder?" Jolene asked and looked at Miranda, completely ignoring her own constitution for a moment.

„Nothing serious. But i'm glad you're alright... I'll leave you two alone now," Miranda said.

„Thank you, Miri."

Miranda smiled at Jolene and Hannah and then left the medical bay.

„Commander, you'll need to rest for at least a week to fully recover," the Doctor said.

„I will, thanks for fixing me up."

Hannah stepped closer to Jolene and sat down next to her on the medical table, while Chakwas moved away to work on some other things.

„How do you feel?" asked Hannah and put her arm around Jolene.

„Uh... terrible...," Jolene answered. „You want to tell me what happened?"

„Well, you still know that Balak escaped, right?"

„Yeah... unfortunately. I took the wrong decision."

„That's not your fault, honey," Hannah said and tried to comfort her. „It was a fifty-fifty chance. You picked the wrong one, but these things happen. Could have been me in the exact same situation and i also might have picked the wrong one."

„And the others?" asked Jolene.

„We destroyed almost all other Batarian ships. Just one of the frigates got away by FTL."

„Losses?"

„Besides the two fighters on the ground, we lost another six ones during the fight in space. The escaping frigate placed a bunch of mines when the Einstein's fighters were in pursuit. Many of them couldn't evade fast enough. The Orizaba also took quite a few hits and some slight damage, but nothing serious."

„I can't believe he managed to get away again," Jolene sighed and shook her head.

„Commander, i'm glad you're with us again," interrupted Joker over the comm channel. „Admiral Hackett wants to talk to you."

„That's gonna be great," Jolene mumbled. „Tell him i'll answer his call shortly."

„Aye, Ma'am."

„Doc, can i get up to my quarters?" she asked.

„Sure. But as i said, get some rest. And if there are any afflictions, just contact me," Chakwas answered, while Jolene nodded in response.

„Can you help me get up there, mom?"

„Of couse."

Hannah stood up and moved right next to Jolene, so she could place her arm on her mother's shoulders to support herself on her. Right now it was hard for her to tread on the ground with her left leg. Meanwhile Hannah put one of her arms around Jolene's waist to hold her and both set off for the elevator. Tali was already waiting for them outside the medical bay and although Jolene couldn't see through her mask, she could sense that she had a relieved expression on her face.

„Jolene, good to see you back on your feet again," she said. „I was worried about you."

„Oh, don't worry too much. I'm gonna be alright again," Jolene answered and smiled at her. „But you didn't wait all the time out here?"

„No, i just overheard you're awake again and i wanted to stop by to see how you're doing. And if you have a moment later, i'd like to talk about something with you."

„We'll have to see. Need to go to the debriefing now. I'll let you know, Tali."

The Quarian nodded and gazed after both of them as they entered the elevator. Back in her quarters, Hannah helped Jolene to get to the desk, so she could answer Hackett's call.

„Thank you," Jolene said before she leaned towards the desk behind her, while Hannah opened the comm channel. A few moments later Hackett appeared on the viewscreen right in front of her model ships.

„Commander, Captain...," he said, not sounding very happy at all. „I've read your first brief report, Hannah. And i have to say that the Alliance admiralty isn't delighted about this outcome."

„Things have gone wrong...," Jolene noted, looking depressed.

„Gone wrong might be a bit of an understatement. All except one of the scientists dead, all security guards killed, our research data stolen, damages to the outpost and the Orizaba as well as several destroyed fighters. The only positive thing is that there's no immediate threat caused by this. The files are heavily encrypted and it will likely take them weeks, if not months to decipher them. And even more time to produce something based on the schematics."

„We can still track him down," Jolene said.

„Not now, Commander. Not now. Due to these developments, you'll have to report back to Earth soon for the trial i mentioned a while ago. We also want to take a closer look at the Normandy and the technology Cerberus used to build the ship."

„Steven...," interfered Hannah. „Don't you see she's wounded? She needs some more time to prepare for this. Do i need to remind you about all the things she's done and what she's been through recently?"

„You don't have to," he sighed. „I know more than enough about all this and i support you, but i can't delay it for much longer. I can grant you one more month before you need to report back. No longer."

„Understood," Jolene said. „And thank you."

„I'm also expecting a full detailed report in the coming days. And now i have to comfort some people. Get well again soon, Commander. Looking forward to see you again in person. Hannah...," he said and nodded. „Hackett out."

The viewscreen disappeared and her model ships showed up again, whilst Jolene sighed and let her head hang.

„Doing this mission was a mistake," she said and scratched her forehead.

„Don't blame yourself. You just did what you thought was right. Not everything always works out perfectly," noted Hannah.

„I think i've lost control down there. I was just focused on catching Balak. Wanted to reach this damn shuttle and lost sight of my shield status. And I have the feeling this won't help me further when it comes to the trial. Damn it!"

„Write your report and they'll see they can't really blame you," Hannah said. „There's not much else you can do about it right now."

„You're probably right, just as always...," Jolene mentioned with a smile. „At least i got to finally see you again."

„Just get in touch with me from time to time, will you?"

„I promise," said Jolene and tried to stand upright again.

„So... you've got a month. What are you doing now?"

„Gonna visit Liara, spend some time with her. Probably the whole month. I'm so looking forward to it," Jolene answered and seemed to be happy for at least a short moment on this day. „Unless i find some hints about Balak's whereabouts."

„Allow it to rest," Hannah said. „At least for the moment. Don't rush things. If you find something, you better coordinate with the Alliance."

„But what has the Alliance done for me recently? Not much at all... Maybe i should officially resign. I guess that wouldn't make you happy."

„I'm proud of you no matter what you do, never forget that."

„That really means a lot to me," Jolene said and put her arms around her mother, giving her a great big hug.

„I should go now, honey. Need to bring the ship back to the fleet."

„I know...," Jolene mumbled.

„Be careful out there. And give Liara my best regards... See you soon," Hannah said and kissed her daughter on her forehead, before she headed towards the door.

„Bye mom," said Jolene, stared a few more seconds at the door after it closed and then let herself fall down onto her chair, having a sad look on her face. She reached for her terminal and pushed a button to contact her pilot.

„Joker. Bring us to Hagalaz once the Captain has left the ship. And i don't want to be disturbed today."

„Aye, Ma'am. Have a good rest."

„Thanks. And don't blow up the ship while i'm sleeping."

„I'll do my best, Commander."

Jolene closed the comm channel, stood up and hobbled over to her bed, so she could take a nap for a while. She was still exhausted from the mission and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.


	12. Chapter 12: Reunited

**Chapter XII**

* * *

><p><em>2 days later<em>

_SSV Normandy_

_Orbiting planet Hagalaz_

* * *

><p>Jolene leaned towards her desk, being absorbed in the datapad she held in her left hand. She wrote her report for Admiral Hackett, since he requested it in full detail from her after what happend at Terra Nova and following Balak's escape with crucial Alliance research data. It absorbed her so much that she hadn't even noticed that the Normandy already arrived at Hagalaz. But she soon found out when the door to her cabin opened and Liara stepped in.<p>

It took her kinda off-guard, but it was more like a very pleasant surprise. „What? We already arrived?" she just said, while Liara came closer.

„Obviously. I'm certainly not a hallucination," Liara replied and smiled. „Joker thought it might be a nice surprise for you if he doesn't tell you anything."

„Well, he clearly succeeded with that," said Shepard and lowered her hand with the datapad. Liara stood right next to her now and both shared a short kiss.

„Got work to do?" Liara asked.

Shepard looked at the datapad in her hand for a brief moment. „Admiral Hackett wants a detailed report about Terra Nova, but...," she said, then threw it right next to her at her desk. „Now that you are here, i'm no longer busy. Well, regarding those official matters at least..."

„Besides that, didn't say hello yet... Come here," Jolene added, grabbed Liara by her hands and pulled her up close. Their heads came closer and Liara remembered the situation when they almost kissed each other next to Shepard's equipment locker back when the Normandy was locked down on the Citadel.

„Joker isn't going to interrupt us this time, isn't he?" Liara asked and grinned.

„I deactivated the comm channel. If he still finds a way, you have my permission to throw a singularity at his ass."

Liara laughed. „I wouldn't want to do that."

„Don't worry about it. Miranda is in command right now and will be until further notice. We have all the time in the world."

Jolene put her arms around Liara's waist and sincerely kissed her. They kissed for a good while, before their lips slowly separated again, but Shepard still held her close, looking straight into her eyes.

„Im so glad you're here, i missed you," she quietly noted. Liara smiled at her and could clearly notice a strong desire in Shepard's eyes, then started to giggle as she tickled her. That was something Jolene loved to do, but Liara wasn't nearly as ticklish as Jolene herself, which was something she had discovered the last time they spent some time together. Still, she made her chuckle every single time.

Only now Liara actually noticed Jolene's wounded hand and the scratch on her temple, carefully stroking over it with her forefinger. „You're not looking that well. What happend?"

„Smashed a terminal when Balak escaped again," Jolene said and raised her hand for a short moment. „And don't forget being beaten with a weapon and shot in my thigh. It freaking hurts, not only physical... I don't like to fail."

„You can't always win," Liara said, looking concerned.

„I know. I once paid with my life for that lesson. And it was just luck, coincidence or whatever you wanna call it that Cerberus brought me back... Maybe i was supposed to die there?"

„Or maybe not. Maybe the galaxy needs you. I know i do."

„Balak, my death, sacrificing all these lifes ... all this feels like some demons of the past are lurking behind my back right now. And they don't make me feel well," Shepard said, feeling a bit down from all the recent happenings.

Liara put her arms around Jolene again and held her tight, not saying anything for a few seconds. „You're a strong person, stronger than those demons."

„I'm just... afraid of the future we're all heading into, the dark skies ahead of us."

„Don't be afraid," Liara whispered. „I'll be at your side whatever happens... And now shut up with this."

„Sorry... i just... i've been reminiscing over the past a lot recently, the good times," Jolene said and tried to change the topic. „I think i'm just growing sick of all this. Not sure if i stay in the Alliance Navy when it's finally over."

„You've been through a lot. I could understand that. But what would you want to do then?"

„Don't know, it was just a thought anyway... I miss the easier times when we were just dancing at the Flux."

„Oh, don't remind me of that, you just can't dance," Liara laughed.

„Hey, that's unfair... it's hard to focus on that when there's such a breathtaking and wonderful Asari dancing in front of me," Shepard said, while kindly rubbing Liara's back. „Your moves have always been much better. And you were so damn flirtatious with me and teasing me while we danced. If it hadn't been for the other people around us i would have got it on with you on the spot."

Liara blushed and felt flattered by Jolene's words, then gave her a kiss. While she did that, Shepard raised one of her hands and now stroke gently over Liaras head and her tentacles, as Mess Sergeant Gardner would call them. She wasn't sure if a specific Asari word for them existed, at least Liara never told her, but she thought that calling them tentacles was somehow inappropriate, so she never used that word. „I really like these," she said and continued with moving her fingers around on Liara's head.

„I have to admit that i was a bit jealous when you watched one of those Asari dancers at Chora's Den," Liara whispered.

„Seriously?" said Jolene and chuckled. „She actually reminded me of an Asari dancer i saw on Elysium just before the Skyllian Blitz. That's it. But i only really have eyes for you... and to be completely honest... i also became a bit jealous on Feron..."

„Feron?"

„Yeah...," Jolene said and slightly blushed. „See, i came back after two years and all you talked about was Feron. You avoided speaking about us..."

„I couldn't... i loved you... i still do, but it wasn't easy to see you back and just go on from there... Goddess, it broke my heart when i heard you didn't make it into any of the Normandy's escape pods...," Liara noted, trying hard not to break out in tears, but she couldn't restrain a few ones from rolling down her cheeks.

„I was somehow afraid, afraid to lose you again, so i... couldn't really talk about it... until you made your position clear. And i'm glad you did. Deep within i just waited for you... and that kiss... it was like a relief."

„You're everything i want, Liara. Seeing you acting so cold after we've met on Illium hurt me, but by now i understand why you behaved like that... it was a hard time for both of us," Jolene added, brushed the tears off Liara's cheeks and sighed. „Remember the first time we met on Therum?"

„How could i forget? You saved my life."

„I think i fell in love with you right away. At least one good thing that's caused by all this. Otherwise we might have never met."

„You never know," said Liara.

„Still... you changed my god damn whole life... and i love you so much, Liara."

Following her declaration of love, she wrapped her arms around Liara's neck and gave her another gentle kiss.

„I love you, too," Liara gently whispered once their lips separated again.

Jolene held Liara closely in her arms, fondling her back. Both didn't say anything for about a minute, just enjoyed being close to each other right now.

„So... if i remember correctly, you promised me to explain that whole Azure thing in more detail, didn't you?" Jolene said and broke the silence, setting up a slightly naughty grin, which made Liara smile again.

„I did," Liara answered, looking with her bright blue eyes at Jolene. Shepard just loved her eyes, the way she always looked at her and they alone almost made her fall for Liara every single time. „As long as you're still interested, of course."

„I'm so eager to learn," Shepard just said. She grabbed Liara by her hands again and slowly led her towards her bed, while still hobbling a bit because of her wounded leg. Jolene then let herself fall down on the soft mattress and pulled Liara with her, who landed right on Shepard. Which wasn't a well thought-out idea, as she felt right away.

„God damn it," Shepard moaned. „You landed right on my wounded leg."

„I'm sorry, i didn't want to..."

„It's okay, Liara. It's okay... Should have thought about it myself," Jolene grumbled, showing a bit of pain on her face. „But since you're already here, you could as well nurse me back to health," she added and grinned.

„Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you?"

„Yeah, pretty much. Only a very special treatment no one else is able to give me can help me right now," Jolene whispered.

For a few moments they just looked at each other and when they started passionately kissing one another, Jolene slowly began to open the zipper on the back of Liara's dress...

* * *

><p><em>The next morning...<em>

* * *

><p>When Shepard woke up the next morning, she felt good, happy and somehow livelier, at least more than recently. She could sense Liara's bare body closely on her back, her arm wrapped around her waist, seemingly protecting her, much like Shepard did when the former Shadow Broker threw his desk at Liara when they both confronted him. In this moment, it gave her such a safe feeling. She didn't have to show her tough and professional side right now, she could just be herself.<p>

Jolene slowly turned to her back and noticed that Liara was also awake. She just watched her and instantly slapped on a smile when Shepard looked at her. „Already awake?" Jolene asked.

„A while now," Liara said. „Been watching you for about an hour. You looked so peaceful. And satisfied."

„Well, i am... Finally a night without a nightmare..."

Liara established a small biotic field with her left hand and moved her now blue glowing forefinger slowly along Jolene's upper arm, over her shoulder and right up her neck, thus sending a chill down her spine before ultimately running her fingers through her hair. Jolene had her hair loose in this moment, not tied together with a scrunchie like she usually does.

„I'm glad you didn't have any nightmares after what happened last night," Liara said and smiled, which in turn made Shepard chuckle. „You should always wear your hair like this. I like that."

„I tried, but it bothers me while fighting... but when i'm _fighting_ with you, it's something completely different," Shepard answered.

„Oh, so you like to fight me?"

„Only at very close range... i never thought about using biotics this way before," Jolene said, showing a smirk on her face.

„That clearly was an interesting experience, merging our biotics... among other things," Liara added.

She was still ruffling through Jolene's hair and Jolene closed her eyes again, enjoying this kind of perfect moment. It's been a while since she could fully release all the pressure bearing on her. She sighed, then opened her eyes again and looked at Liara.

„Can i just never leave again?"

„What about the Reapers? If anyone can stop them, then it's you."

„Apparently... you know, sometimes i'd just like to pick you up and run away to some place where no one finds us."

„I'd be happy to follow you," said Liara. „But you know we can't. Not now. Just ask me again when all this is over."

„I told you i have to stand trial in the near future, didn't i?" Shepard asked.

„Yes. And i think that's unfair to you after all you've done. You saved the Council, the Citadel, defeated the Collectors..."

„... but i also destroyed a whole system, killing more than 300.000 people," Jolene added.

„But you had no other choice! Otherwise the Reapers would have already spread over the galaxy."

„I know, Liara," said Shepard, grabbed Liara's hand and held her tight. „Don't worry too much about it, it's likely just a formality."

„What about your liaison with Cerberus? They could use that against you."

„I know they did and probably still do some ugly things. We both saw it, but i didn't commit any crimes while working with them. Unless they want to nail me for just working with them to save human colonies... Anyway, shouldn't have mentioned it... Let's not talk about this now, okay?"

Liara just nodded and kissed Jolene on her cheek. „What was that for?" Shepard asked.

„Do i need a reason to kiss you?"

„In no way," Jolene said. „It's rather me who should kiss you... and thus thank you. My mother told me you spoke with her after i... after i died. That was very lovely of you."

„I felt it was the right thing to do."

„She really appreciated it. And so do i," said Jolene, followed by a few seconds of silence. „I'm gonna stay with you for a while here, if that's okay for you. I have one month before i'm supposed to return to Earth and i could really need a break right now. I also might help you find something that is of use against the Reapers."

„I'd love that," Liara said.

Shepard led Liara's hand to her mouth and kissed it. „And more importantly, i don't want to get up yet..."

„Me neither..."

Before Jolene turned to her side again, both of them shared another gentle kiss. Then she moved closer to Liara, grabbed her arm and put it around her own waist once more. She could feel Liara's breath on her neck, which gave her some sort of goosebumps on her whole body, but she pretty much liked it. If this was what it takes to stop her nightmares, she might as well stay in bed the whole day or even the whole week. Just to have some rest from everything else that showered down on her and everything that was yet to come.


	13. Chapter 13: Epilogue

_3 and a half weeks later_

_SSV Normandy_

_Orbiting planet Hagalaz_

* * *

><p>The past few weeks had been great for Jolene. Working and being together with Liara not only helped her to cope with her emotions, but also allowed both of them to further deepen their relationship. Liara took care a lot of Jolene during this time and spent every single evening and night with her aboard the Normandy.<p>

Even the crew enjoyed this time as it gave her a chance to rest and spend some time together. Jolene wasn't sure about her return to the Alliance, she spoke a lot about it with Miranda and Jacob and thought about sending the former Cerberus people off the ship before she would return. She didn't really know what to expect on Earth and she wanted to avoid getting any of them arrested since they supported her and turned their back to Cerberus together with her. It was the least she could do for them.

This day Liara woke up alone in Shepard's bed. It was Liara's special day, her birthday. Next to her she saw an active datapad, just displaying one message: _Meet__me__at__the__mess__hall__once__you're__awake._She hopped out of the bed and went to the bathroom to take a quick and hot shower. A few minutes later she stepped out of the bathroom again and picked up her dress from the floor next to the bed to put it on.

Once she walked out of the elevator on Deck 3 and moved around the corner to the mess hall, she saw not only Jolene, but also Garrus, Tali, Chakwas and Joker hanging around there. When they spotted her, everyone of them startet to cheer a bit, accompanied by a „Happy Birthday" from everyone.

„Goddess...," was everything she could say right now and started to blush and smile at the same time. Jolene had gathered all her old friends from the SR-1 to celebrate her birthday. While Shepard stood more in the background, all of the others moved to her and congratulated her individually. She hugged everyone of them, then moved over to Jolene, who could spot some tears of joy in Liara's eyes as she came closer.

„That was your idea?" she asked.

„Yeah, a small gathering of old friends for your birthday. Hope you like it," Jolene said and smiled.

„I do very much," Liara noted and embraced Jolene.

„Happy 109th, Little Wing," whispered Jolene. She held Liara in her arms, who now moved her head in front of Jolene's and deeply kissed her. It lasted for several seconds, before their lips separated again and Liara turned around to the others.

„Thank you all, this is so kind... i'm... a bit speechless," she said to everyone around.

„And there's chocolate cake, drinks and stuff. Serve yourself," added Jolene.

„Chocolate cake?" asked Liara.

„Yes, the one you liked so much. I let Gardner make another one."

While the others moved around the table in the mess hall, Jolene grabbed Liara's hand and pulled her back to her again.

„I know you said you got everything you want, but it's just a little thing," Jolene said and picked up a small casket from the table behind her to hand it over to Liara.

„That wasn't necessary," Liara mentioned while opening the casket, thus revealing a necklace with a small pendant in the form of a star. She turned it around and saw Jolene's name engraved on the back. Then she took it out of the casket and Jolene helped her to put it around her neck.

„So, the basic idea is... you're the star... because my whole world revolves around you. I know, maybe it's a bit cheesy or whatever... but since i got this medallion from you i thought you should have something similar."

„Aww, that's so sweet...," Liara said and kissed her.

„And when it comes to the main present...," Jolene whispered, „you can unwrap that later."

„Can't wait for that," Liara giggled.

„Now go over and celebrate," added Jolene.

Liara gave her another short kiss and walked over to the others. Jolene just stood there, picked up a glass of brandy from the table besides her and watched Liara having fun with her friends. She was glad that not only herself felt better following the last weeks, but also Liara opened up more and more again since they were back together. Jolene watched them for a few minutes, before Garrus stepped over to her and leaned himself next to her at the table.

„Shepard, are you sure we should go back to Earth for this trial? We don't know how long this will take and it's precious time we lose," he said.

„I know, Garrus. But i have to do this. If i don't go back, they'll likely chase us. And i don't want that, i don't want to run away from the Alliance. That's only going to cause more trouble."

„Politicians...," Garrus added. „They're either too stupid or they don't want to see the threat."

„You know, you don't have to get back with us," Jolene noted. „We can drop you off wherever you want on our way back. You don't need me, you could easily command your very own ship. Work with Liara while i'm on Earth, find something of use against the reapers or... whatever..."

„I will think about it, Shepard... After all, we're a good team aren't we?"

„We sure are," Jolene said and slapped on his shoulder. „Whatever you decide, thanks for all your support over the years."

„It was my pleasure," the Turian said and both clinked their glasses.

Following their short conversation, both moved back to others and Jolene sat down next to Liara, wrapping her right arm around her waist and giving her a kiss on the cheek. In the next few hours, all of them told a few stories, spoke about the recent years and what the future may hold.

* * *

><p><em>Later in the evening<em>

_Shepard's quarters_

* * *

><p>With the little party being over, both Jolene and Liara went back up to the Commander's quarters, along with some of the remaining pieces of the chocolate cake. While Shepard already sat down in the sitting area below her model ships, she waited for Liara to join her. She remained a few minutes in the bathroom, before she stepped out and down the stairs to sit down next to Jolene.<p>

„That was a wonderful day. Thank you so much," Liara said and sincerely kissed Jolene. She moved up close and placed her head on Shepard's shoulder, so she could put her arm around her.

„Glad you enjoyed it. Felt good to see you talking with old friends."

„It's been a while since i did that... before all of this happened," Liara added.

„You've changed during this years, Liara. I'd say you've grown up though. And i'm proud of you. You never gave up on me, without you i'd be dead. I can never make up for that," said Jolene

„You are here with me, that's more than enough to make up."

While holding her in her arm, Jolene slowly moved her finger around Liara's neck and sighed.

„When do you have to leave?" Liara asked and grabbed Jolene's hand to hold her tight.

„In a few days, sweetheart."

„I would love to say you should stay, but you won't...," sighed Liara.

„I have to do this, Liara. I already told Garrus i don't want to run away from the Alliance."

Liara moved her head down onto Jolene's lap and looked at her from below, while still holding her hand.

„The past few weeks have been great," Liara added. „Shows me how i missed you in these two years."

For a minute or two they just remained like that and looked at each other while Jolene gently stroked Liara's cheek.

„Jolene?" said Liara and broke the silence.

„Yes?"

„I... think i'd like to... unwrap my main present now," she sad and grinned.

„I'm all yours, Liara..."


End file.
